


V" .^ 

^ 






. O v-^ ' ♦ • s * V 



N^--^ 



,0 



> V 






.0 



<?• * O M 



.3^^- 




-. '°- J 






i"°. 


























7 'J^ 










,^ 



s^^:. 







\* '^ % ^ 









^V-^ 

^ -^ 



> '>^iX^/' .^^ '^ 






0' .'"% \;^ 



> 






• ^'W4K-i ♦" A'*^ •^>. ° '(// isW*" ^3 ^.- 















= ^ .0- 



.^ ^ -Si-. 



i^: 



>V 






'o i: 
^0, 



<*. 






-'^, 



0' 



^oV" 



■>°-^. 



,% «: 



. --.y.--;,. ^t- 

>— ^^*^ 


^^.^^ 




•X 



-^^ 



.0' 



> 



^' .^^ 



..^^ 






'b^. 



./ ^^ ^ ^?^p:^ ^/^ ^ 



% °'' .^' 






■/.^ 









(P^ .^:^-°> /^ 






.^v*- 









o " " * O 



"^^0^ 






* dT/r 



."^O. 










^^'-^ ^:^ 



Bringing the Gospel in 
Hogan ana Pueblo. 




The Navaho 



Bringing the Gospel in Hogan 
and Pueblo 



By 

REV. J. pOLFIN 

Pastor of the Bethonv Christian Reformed Church 
Muskegon, Michigan 



Memorial Edition 




189 6 1 9 2 1 



GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 

jne VAN NOORD BOOK AND 
PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Five Hundred Thirteen Eastern Avenue 

1921 



■H3U& 



Copyrighted 1921 by 

We VAN NOORD BOOK AND PUBLISHING CO. 

Grand Rapids, Mich. 



OCl 17 1921 



Print of Grand Rapids Printing Co., 

M. Hoffius, Prop. 
113 Campau Ave . Grand Rapids, Mich. 



©(;i.A624834 
I 



It is my pleasure to dedicate this 
volume to my wife, whose interest 
in the Indians has rivaled my own, 
and who has in many ways helped 
and encouraged me to persevere 
until the necessary information had 
been collected and tabulated. 



Introduction 

I GLADLY WRITE a word of introduction to this book 
of the Rev. John Dolfin. Having been associated with 
him during several years of sei-vice on our Mission Board, 
his companion on several trips, I knew that he was well- 
posted on • the subject of Missions, particularly on the 
work among the Indians of the Southwest of our land, 
and I feel sure that those who peruse the book will soon 
agree with me on the matter. What Rev. Dolfin writes 
in the opening chapters, and his introduction to the sev- 
eral contributions of the workers, as well as the closing 
chapters, show abundantly that the author possesses a 
splendid fund of information on the subject. What 
struck me in perusing the MS. was the spirit of apprecia- 
tion shown in regard to the work of the various laborers. 
It also occurred to me to be a happy thought that so 
many of our workers had been asked to furnish a con- 
tribution. No one can describe their task as well as they 
themselves. The reader will also observe that the author 
has given wise hints here and there about desirable im- 
provements as to methods and plans of work. The Shar- 
pened-Arrow-Heads give valuable information about the 
work of Indian Missions in its broader scope and in its 
spiritual aspects. The third Chapter gives a fine back- 
ground to the book, as it describes the surroundings of 
Gallup, N. M. Many books on Missions so limit them- 
selves to the work, that an outsider finds it hard to realize 
in just what surroundings the labor is carried on. What 
is told about the Navahoes and Zunies as to the customs, 

9 



10 Introduction 

legends, and superstitions, will be read with great interest 
by all who love folklore and ethnology. The pictures 
shown are all from original photos. 

The entire work will be a valuable contribution to 
the cause of Missions among the aborigines of our land, 
and be appreciated by all lovers of the good work. For 
the people of the Christian Reformed Church it will 
simply prove to be invaluable, being the fii'st extensive 
work on the subject in the English language. 

Invoking God's blessing upon this effort, 

HENRY BEETS. 



Preface 

IT HAS BEEN our desire and ambition for a long time 
to impart some information concerning the Navahoes 
and Zunies, two tribes of Indians among whom we as a 
Church are privileged to labor in the Gospel ministry, 
on the twenty-fifth anniversary of our entering upon that 
work. To be sure, much has been written on the subject 
in papers and magazines, as also in pamphlet publica- 
tions, distributed broadcast among our people, and un- 
doubtedly more has been told in missionary sermons and 
lectures in our churches and at Mission Fests thruout our 
land, by those particularly interested in our Indian work, 
but, after all, from conversations with many of our 
people, we are convinced that the knowledge concerning 
these Indians and the work of the Lord among them is, 
in many respects, erroneous and not very extensive, to 
say the least. That there is not only room for a book of 
this character and description, but also a great need, if 
our people thru knowledge are going to be interested in 
the cause of Indian Missions, goes without gainsaying. 
We want to offer it as a Twenty-fifth Anniversary 
Memorial, with the hope and prayer that it may increase 
the love for and interest in our Indian work where it al- 
ready exists and awaken it there where, because of sinful 
prejudice or unanswerable antipathy, it is not found. 

We appreciate more than we can tell, the kindness 
and willingness of our busy and faithful workers on the 
field in sending us their articles on subjects assigned. We 
are persuaded that these Chapters, written by those 

11 



12 Preface 

actively and personally engaged in the work, will be read 
with the deepest interest. We also appreciate the kind- 
ness and encouragement given by different brethren with 
whom we consulted from time to time, as our Secretary 
of Missions, Rev. H. Beets, LL.D., and the Rev. M. Van 
Vessem, who showed his interest in many ways, but espe- 
cially by giving us some of the illustrations which greatly 
enhance the value of the book. 

We confess, the gathering of the information con- 
tained in the following chapters has been a great pleasure 
and a most interesting work. And now we have but one 
desire, and that is that also this work may redound to the 
glory of our Lord and to the extension of His cause 
among the many Indians within and without our land, who 

are still groping in pagan darkness. 

THE AUTHOR. 



CON TEN TS 



I. The Great Commission 15 

II. The Christian Reformed Church and Missions 26 

III. Gallup and Her Scenic Surroundings 34 

IV. The Navahoes 48 

A — Customs 76 

B — Legends 84 

C — Superstitions 88 

V. Rehoboth, New Mexico 97 

Bringing the Gospel to the Navaho at a Mission 
Boarding School, by Rev. J. W. Brink, 
Missionai'y-Pastor 101 

VI. Crown Point, New Mexico 122 

Bringing the Gospel to the Navahoes at a 
Government School, by Rev. Jacob Bolt, 
Missionary 128 

VII. A Pioneer Missionary to the Navahoes 133 

Bringing the Gospel to the Hogans, by Rev. 
L. P. Brink, Missionary 140 

VIII. Lay-woi'kers in our Indian Mission Service 161 

Camping with the Navahoes, by Mr. William 
Mierop, Field Missionary at Rehoboth, N. M. 167 

IX. Tohatchi, New Mexico 188 

On the Trail of the Navaho in and Around 
Tohatchi, by Mr. Mark Bouma, Missionary- 
in-Charge at Tohatchi, N. M 192 

13 



X. Medical Missions 209 

Medical Work Among the Navahoes, by Dr. 
J. D. Mulder, Rehoboth, N. M 214 

XI. Educational Missions 220 

Educational Work Among the Navahoes, by 
Miss Renzina Stob, Principal at the Rehoboth 
School 226 

XII. Industrial Missions 233 

Industrial Efforts Among the Navahoes, by 
Mr. J. H. Bosscher, Manager at Rehoboth 241 

XIII. The Navaho Religion 250 

The Religious Views of the Navahoes, by Rev. 
L. P. Brink, Toadlena, N. M 252 

XIV. The Zunies 263 

A — Customs 289 

B— Legends 299 

C — Superstitions 304 

XV. Entering the Zuni Field 309 

The Zuni Mission, by Rev. H. Fryling, Mis- 
sionary at Zuni, N. M 315 

XVI. Non-Reservation Schools 342 

The Religious Work at Non-Reservation 
Schools, by Mr. M. Van der Beek, Director 
of Religious Work 350 

XVII. A Word in Conclusion 355 



They Who Have Been and Who are Still in our 

Indian Mission Service 365 

Sharpened Arrow-Heads 368 

Bibliography 374 



14 



I. 

THE GREAT COMMISSION 

TT WOULD SEEM out of place to us to offer 
■■• you a book on Missions, in commemoration 
of the twentj^-fifth Anniversary of our entering 
upon the work among the dwellers in Hogan and 
Pueblo, without an opening chapter on the Great 
Commission. The importance and meaning of 
this Commission cannot well be over-estimated. 
Only when our interest in and our concern for 
the evangelization of the world is founded upon 
the Lord's command, shall they remain both firm 
and steadfast amidst all the discouraging feat- 
ures encountered and all the criticism, by ene- 
mies great and small, met with in the Cause. 

The Book we love, because it speaks to us of 
the way of salvation and is become to us the 
only infallible rule and measure of our faith and 
life, is the same Book which drives the Mission- 
ary forth to his great adventures, and remains 
his constant companion on all his wanderings. 
It goes without gainsaying, therefore, that for 
him who goes to the field and for us who remain 
at home to hold the ropes, that Book speaks the 
biggest word for Missions. There may be 
many and various appeals inciting to missionary 
activity, such as: the present great opportuni- 
ties in all parts of the world, the cry of races and 

15 



16 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

of nations, the fearful siitferings and the appall- 
ing needs of those without God, without Christ 
and therefore without hope in the world, but, it 
has been well said, underneath them all is the 
great diapason of the Word: "Go ye; I am 
with you." 

Remember, first of all, when this Command 
was given! Not until after the resurrection. 
Methinks, this tells us that the Master fully 
realized that before this great event His dis- 
ciples were in no way able to receive it. Their 
ideas of Him and of His Kingdom were so 
earthly and so Jewish that they certainly would 
have had no ears for or interest in such a Com- 
mission. Moreover, the Lord knew that many 
things that He spoke to them during His sojourn 
would be forgotten, therefore He undertook to 
give His Commission under such impressive and 
awe-inspiring circumstances that it would be 
next to impossible for them ever to lose sight 
of it. 

It was on the third day after the crucifixion, 
on the evening of the day of resurrection, the 
disciples being gathered in an upper room be- 
hind barred doors for fear of the Jews, that they 
were talking together about what had taken 
place upon that memorable day. Jesus, the be- 
loved. Whom they trusted to have been He 
which should have redeemed Israel, had been 
seen alive of Mary Magdalene and of the other 
women, and what seemingly, at least, persuaded 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 17 

them that it was really true was the fact that He 
had appeared to Simon, and now the two dis- 
ciples from Emmaiis also enter and still further 
confirm the truth of it by telling of their experi- 
ence. Then, suddenly, without a bar being 
withdrawn or a door being unbolted, Jesus Him- 
self, stood in the midst of them. They were 
filled with fear, thinking they saw a spirit, but 
He soon assuaged their fears by demonstrating 
His identity, showing them His hands and His 
feet, and eating before them a piece of a broiled 
fish and of a honey-comb. Whatever else He 
may have said to them on this never-to-be-for- 
gotten occasion, His command concerning mis- 
sions was so indelibly impressed upon their 
hearts that when the evangelist came to write of 
this visit, that was uppermost in his mind. Again, 
some time later, when in obedience to the Mas- 
ter's own instructions, the disciples and, accord- 
ing to Paul, five hundred others assembled on a 
mountain in Galilee, Jesus appeared and once 
more, of all that was said and spoken by Him, 
only the missionary command is recorded. But 
still, this is not all. After the forty days had 
elapsed since the resurrection. He gathered His 
disciples on Mount Olivet and before ascending 
to His Father, He once inore addressed them on 
this subject, saying: "But ye shall receive power 
when the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye 
shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in 
all Judrea and Samaria and unto the uttermost 



18 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

parts of the earth." And with these words trem- 
bhng, as it were, upon His lips, the very last He 
ever uttered to man before going back to His 
Father, He was received up into the heavens, 
and a cloud hid Him from mortal view. 

Another consideration that we should in no 
wise overlook is the fact that, whereas some 
things that Jesus said, are spoken of by one or 
two of the evangelists and passed over by the 
others in silence, the Great Commission is em- 
phasized not only by all the four Gospel writers, 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but also by 
Peter and Paul in their letters to churches and 
individuals. Then, when we remember that 
these Apostles and many others gave their very 
lives in obedience to this Commission, we say, 
this is not only an important command, but the 
most important given to the disciples by the 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Why ! It was 
for that to which this connnand looks that He 
gave His life upon the bitter and accursed Cross 
of Calvary, and our obedience to it shall bear 
fruit and thus verify the word of the prophet of 
ancient days: "He shall see the travail of His 
soul and shall be satisfied." 

Furthermore is the supreme importance of 
this command accentuated by the very fact that 
Christ's three years of active ministry and teach- 
ing led up to it. We know, on two former occa- 
sions He formally commissioned His disciples, 
once the twelve, and later on the seventv. These 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 19 

we recognize as trial-missions, limited as they 
were both to area and to objects, Galilee and the 
lost sheep of the house of Israel. In both cases 
the instructions may be called the lesser commis- 
sions when we place them in comparison with 
the Great Commission uttered after the resur- 
rection. From all this it assuredly should be felt 
and realized, should it not? that nothing can be 
more binding upon the heart and conscience of 
a follower of Christ than the Great Commis- 
sion, including His Home and Foreign Mission 
command. 

Altho Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John report 
substantially the great commission, nevertheless, 
to understand it in its fullness of meaning and 
significance, we should place these four accounts 
side by side and study them together. 

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- 
ing. All power is given unto Me in heaven and 
in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28: 
18-20.) 

"And He said unto them. Go ye into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; 
but he that believeth not, shall be damned." 
(Mark 16: 15,16.) 



20 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

"And ye are witnesses of these things. And, 
behold, I send the promise of My Father upon 
you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until 
ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke 
24:48, 49.) 

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be 
unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so 
send I you. And when He had said this. He 
breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive 
ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, 
they are remitted unto them; and whose soever 
sins ve retain, they are retained." (John 20: 
21-230 

First of all we should view each one of these 
records in the light of the Gospel in which it is 
found. As the stream that flowed from the Gar- 
den of Eden was parted into four heads, so the 
story of the life and teachings of Him Who de- 
clared Himself to be the water of life comes to 
us thru four channels. W^e do not have four 
Gospels, but one Gospel under a fourfold as- 
pect. Even so we do not have four commissions, 
but one commission recorded and emphasized 
by four different writers. 

By Matthew Jesus Christ is presented from 
the Jewish point of view, showing that He was 
the promised Messiah, of the seed of Abraham 
and thru the kingly line of David. The King- 
ship of Jesus is therefore especially revealed. It 
is the Gospel of royal authority, and conse- 
quently we find that Matthew in recording the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 21 

Great Commission, is supremely impressed with 
Christ's words on the slopes of Mount Olivet : 
"All power (authority) is given unto Me," etc. 
It is the commission of the King, the Law-giver. 
It rings with the note of authority. Thus it also 
answers to the first need of the world, namely, 
authority. The voice which the world, especially 
today, needs to hear is indeed pre-eminently the 
voice of authority, and authority, in the matter 
of moral standards. The world today, if it needs 
anything, it needs to know by an enunciation 
that is binding and authoritative, what sin is. 
The authority of Jesus, the Lordship of Christ, 
and not His love and His ability to save, should, 
therefore, be the first note of christian preaching 
at home and abroad. We must return to the old 
truth that no man can enter into the experience 
of conversion and salvation until he has come to 
conviction of his sin and need, and that convic- 
tion can only be produced by an authoritative 
moral standard. And that standard is provided 
by Christ Jesus in His teaching and in His life. 

Mark's purpose was to present Christ to the 
Romans, and for that reason he describes Him as 
the mighty worker, the faithful "Servant of the 
Lord," the One Who does the will of God per- 
fectly. It is the Gospel of activity, being crowded 
with action, with deeds rather than words. Pre- 
eminently a Gospel for this rushing, busy age, 
which certainly may be described as being 
"driven" rather than "led." Continually we hear 



22 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

the emphasis hud upon the fact that the calhng 
of every disciple of the Lord is to serve and not 
to be served. Therefore, the Commission as pre- 
sented in Mark also bears the form : "Go ye into 
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." The disciples are to go into the whole 
world and preach the Gospel not merely to men 
and women, which is, of course, fundamental, 
but thru them to the whole creation. For thru 
the renewed man the whole creation is affected 
and redeemed as it passes under the dominion 
of love. Thus we find the answer to the second 
need of the world; the entering into creation 
that groaneth and travaileth in pain; thru sacri- 
ficial service, with the message of healing and 
renewal. 

Luke gives us the Gospel as it would effect- 
ively appeal to the Greeks, who idolized human- 
ity. Christ is here presented in the largest hu- 
man relations. He is the ideal man, the perfec- 
tion of mankind, the Son of man. Consequently 
Luke records the Commission: "Ye are wit- 
nesses of these things. . . .but tarry ye. . . .until 
ye be clothed with power from on high.'' Christ, 
victorious in life and in death, must be made 
manifest thru His victory in our lives. This 
answers to the third note in the world's need: 
the consciousness of inability to realize the 
highest, to do the noblest, to be the best; by de- 
monstrating Christ's ability not only in His own 
but also in our lives. We, who by nature must 



• IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 2i. 

confess: "If we would do good, evil is present,' 
must now, as witnesses of Jesus' power, be able 
to say : "We can do all things in Him that 
strengtheneth us." Wherever we are, in home 
or office, in shop or factory, in our own country 
or abroad, we must be credentials, demonstra- 
tions, samples of Christ, answering the world's 
cry of inability with a perpetual song of ability. 

The express purpose of John in his Gospel 
is to present those elements of Christ's life 
which tend to prove the Deity of the Savior. He 
is equal with God, one with God, really God. 
And living in this realization of the Godhead of 
Jesus, the Apostle of love hears the mystic wordg 
of the Great Commission that the others failed 
to chronicle, probably because they so little un- 
derstood their meaning. "As the Father hath 

sent Me, even so send I you " As He came 

into the world to reveal and make known the 
Father, which revelation included the work 
whereby sin may be forgiven, so He now sends 
His disciples into the world in the power of the 
accomplished work to exercise the great and 
holy function of remitting and retaining sins. 

Thus the Church is called today to carry out 
the Great Commission in the spirit of the Lord. 
It is in reality simply entering upon and continu- 
ing His work, which is summarized in Matthew 
in these words : "Jesus went about in all Galilee, 
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the 
Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner 



24 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

of disease and all manner of sickness among the 
people." Because of these three forms of activ- 
ity and service, Christ is known as the Great 
Teacher, the Great Physician, and the Incom- 
parable Preacher. Thorwaldsen's piece of 
sculpture in heroic size, representing Christ as 
the "Divine Healer," with matchless compassion 
upon His face, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, in 
Baltimore, is a benediction to the suffering hu- 
manity that goes there, for it silently but strik- 
ingly reminds it of the Source of all healing, 
life, and love. 

No one who studies the present world situa- 
tion will deny, that if ever, then, today the 
world needs the message of Christ and His ac- 
complished salvation. In the midst of the pres- 
ent universal unrest, there is nothing that can 
bring calmness and peace but the realization 
that thru Christ we are reconciled with the Sov- 
ereign God, Who holds the destinies of nations 
and races in the hollow of His hand. When we 
read how there is a tendency at the present time 
to stress the cause of medical, social, and indus- 
trial missions instead of the evangelistic, we are 
unable to quiet the voice that warns us of the 
danger of substituting "another gospel" for the 
Gospel of Christ. 

We, who believe in the sovereignty of God, 
and in the responsibility of man, should not we 
feel as if in the situation that obtains today thru- 
out the world, our God, too long denied, is sim- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 25 

ply unsettling mankind in order that He may 
show them the way of true peace? God, the Al- 
mighty and All-wise, has a program, and that 
program is being carried out. This world is not 
running by chance. God's power is sufficient for 
all things and His love is forever the same. It 
behooves all of us, therefore, who are called by 
the name of His Christ and profess to be His 
children, to study His program, to submit to His 
guidance and to co-operate whole-heartedly in 
His plan for giving the whole Gospel to the 
whole world. 



26 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



II. 

THE CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH AND 
MISSIONS 

IWI ANY TIMES we have been told both by men 
^^ ^ within and by men without our circle, that 
the Christian Reformed Church is lacking in 
Mission spirit. Upon closer questioning and in- 
vestigation we found that this expression of criti- 
cism rested especially upon two things; first, the 
Christian Reformed Church was unreasonably 
and most unjustly compared, as to its mission 
activities, with her older and larger sister de- 
nomination known as the Reformed Church of 
America, and, secondly, all home work was dis- 
counted and it was emphasized that there was 
no representative of ours on the Foreign field, 
in other words, the Christian Reformed Church 
did not take part in the great cause of Foreign 
Missions. The lack of a Mission spirit would 
very naturally cut to the very quick any true son 
or daughter of the Church, for it cannot be de- 
nied, a non-missionary Church has no right of 
existence, and according to an inexorable law 
it must languish and ultimately die. It would 
not be difficult at all to give examples of this 
from the history of the Church thruout the ages. 
Oh! that critics might fully understand that to 
ascribe the lack of Mission spirit to a Church is 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 27 

to doom that Church to death. And, oh ! that the 
members of a Church might fully understand 
that the very life of a Church, as well as the life 
of every individual christian, exists in its mis- 
sionary activities. The christian faith as repre- 
sented in and by a Church simply must propagate 
itself or die a dishonorable death. May there, 
therefore, be a continual increase in our conse- 
cration to and in our prayers and gifts for the 
cause which is the business of the Church. For 
well hath it been said, "Missions is not a part of 
the benevolence but the business of the Church." 

But to return to the criticism mentioned above. 
We set ourselves to investigate the two facts 
upon which it rests. We congratulate our sister 
Church upon her splendid activities in China, 
India, Japan, and Arabia. We always read with 
intense interest and delight the magazines and 
pamphlets which tell us of this work. The 
names of Zwemer, Chamberlain, Pieters and 
Warnshuis, to mention no others, are as dear to 
us, for their work's sake, as they can possibly 
be to any member of the Church which they rep- 
resent. Probably because of the bands of the 
Reformed faith and of nationality we feel closely 
akin to them, and with our sister Church we are 
proud, with a holy pride, of their endeavors and 
splendid achievements on the Foreign fields 
mentioned. This Church, which has by the grace 
of God, given such valuable men to the cause; 
this Church, which manifests such a laudable 



28 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

zeal for Missions at home and abroad; this 
Church, was not ever thus. Let us not forget 
nor overlook that. Just recently in perusing the 
history of this Church by one of its honored 
fathers, the Rev. N. H. Dosker, we found in one 
of the chapters a defense of the Church against 
this same criticism. Then it was hurled at them, 
as now it is applied to us. And his defense is 
along the same lines that we would follow if we 
were going to offer a defense. The church at 
home must first be strong and continually be- 
come stronger if it is going to have and ade- 
quately support an ever-increasing work on the 
Foreign field. We have ample faith to believe 
that the day is not far distant when our Foreign 
work, comparatively speaking, is going to be 
second to none, either in the number and calibre 
of the men and women sent forth, or in the 
financial support by which they are backed up 
at home. The history of our Church in its reve- 
lation and record of the Mission spirit among us, 
and our personal faith in the constituency of our 
churches, fills us with a glowing hope for the 
future. And it is just because of this that we cast 
far from us the criticism that the Christian Re- 
formed Church is lacking in Missionary spirit. 

To the lasting honor of our fathers it must 
be said that already at the second Classical meet- 
ing, held in the year of the birth of our Church, 
1857, the cause of Missions was a matter of dis- 
cussion, and it was decided that on the first 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 29 

Monday of each month a prayer-meeting should 
be held, and that at these meetings an offering 
should be made for Bible distribution. Would 
to God that this decision of the fathers might be 
revived today and lived up to. What an inspira- 
tion, encouragement, and incentive it would be 
to our representatives on the Home and Foreign 
fields to know that regularly, once a month, on 
the same evening, in every Christian Reformed 
church they and their work were being carried 
in united prayer to the Throne above, whence 
comcth all our help and every blessing. Having 
no Foreign work of their own, our fathers de- 
cided to send their offerings to the churches of 
the Netherlands to assist them in their work, but 
such a second-hand activity could not inspire 
and enthuse, and consequently languished and 
died. Other efforts to collect moneys without a 
definite purpose were also, and that very natur- 
ally, more or less a failure. 

During this time, however, the work of 
church extension at home was prosecuted with 
great zeal. These men of old did not spare 
themselves to visit unchurched communities 
and when- and wherever possible establish 
churches of the same faith as their own. They 
were not concerned about financial remunera- 
tion for their efforts, but their love for the cause 
gave them courage and readiness to bear the 
heat of the day and the cold of night in the work 
of the Lord. We younger men, who to a great 



30 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

extent have entered upon what they have 
wrought, should ever remember this, and at our 
church meetings we should show deference to 
the few old veterans still abiding with us. The 
long list of Home Missionaries, from the begin- 
ning of our church-life unto the present day, 
testifies to the spirit of sacrifice and love. Due 
to the strengthening and extension of the home 
church by the blessings of the Lord thru these 
Mission activities, the desire was awakened 
more and more to cast the Gospel net also into 
the deep darkness of the Heathen world, and to 
sow the seed of the Word in virgin soil. But 
whither shall we go, and to whom shall we first 
extend the invitation? 

Behold! That question employed the thoughts 
of many minds for many years. There was so 
little unanimity of thought on that question that 
it verily seemed that every leader had his own 
particular choice of field or work. One desired 
to co-operate with the churches of the Nether- 
lands in their Missions on Java; another sup- 
ported the idea of an own Mission on foreign 
shores; a third favored the supporting of Mis- 
sions already established by churches of like 
faith and polity; still another, to mention no 
more, wanted to labor among the Negroes in 
our own Southland. In 1886, however, unex- 
pectedly and to the surprise of many, the atten- 
tion of the Church was directed to the Aborigines 
of our own beloved United States. It seemed to 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 31 

thrill the hearts of the majority, "we need not 
go afar, we have the heathen at our very door 
who have never heard of the blessed name of 
Jesus, and the big Churches of our land engaged 
extensively on foreign shores, are forgetting 
those at hoine, living in the same dense darkness 
of superstition and idolatry." And then, what 
added zest to the appeal to bring the glad tid- 
ings of salvation to the Red Men was the con- 
scious national responsibility of being especially 
indebted to them because we were occupying 
and holding as our own their former homes and 
hunting grounds. For the material we would 
return the spiritual! 

After having supported the Rev. J. Kruidenier, 
missionary of the United Presbyterian Church in 
Egypt, to the extent of -^400.00 annually, it was 
decided for the present to limit our activities to 
the Indians or Negroes of our own land. When 
a couple of unheeded calls had been extended to 
ministers of our Church, to the joy of the com- 
mittee charged with the regulation and oversight 
of the work, the Rev. T. M. Van den Bosch of- 
fered himself as Missionary. Things were still 
very indefinite, however, even when installed it 
was not sure whether his field would be in Okla- 
lioma or Indian Territory, or whether he would 
labor among the Indians or Negroes. Because of 
discouraging reports from the Indian Territory 
it was deemed best to send him to the Rosebud 
Agency in the Dakotas, but he was left to blaze 



32 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

the trail for himself. He was set aside for this 
work on the 23rd of October, 1889, and immedi- 
ately set forth. Meeting with many and various 
disappointments in trying to start a w^ork among 
the great Sioux tribe of Dakota, receiving word 
that there was no opening for him in Oklahoma, 
and considering the Winnebago tribe in Ne- 
braska amply provided for, he lost all heart and 
courage, therefore, upon his request in Septem- 
ber, 1890, less than one year after he went out, 
he received his discharge as Missionary to the 
Heathen. This failure, however distressing to 
the lovers of a Mission to the Indians, was not 
sufficient to dampen their ardor. They contin- 
ued to foster the interest already awakened, and 
they did not cease to labor in the hope of some 
day realizing their desire. In the meantime 
work among our own scattered people and 
among the Jews was prosecuted with laudable 
zeal. 

In 1896 it was definitely determined to enter 
the Navaho Reservation and begin the work at 
Fort Defiance, Arizona. On the 1st of October, 
1896, the Rev. and Mrs. Herman Fryling, with 
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Van der Wagen, bade fare- 
well to their many friends and relatives and went 
forth to this new undertaking with the hearty 
good wishes and prayers of a whole Church ac- 
companying them. This is the work which we 
are now commemorating upon its twenty-fifth 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 33 

anniversary, and concerning which we are to 
read more in the following chapters. 

The Mission work of the Christian Reformed 
Church, however, is no longer limited to this 
one activity. In addition to a continually in- 
creasing interest to establish churches among 
our own people living in isolated districts of our 
land, work is carried on at Chicago, 111., and at 
Paterson, N. J., among the Jews; at Hoboken, 
N. J,, there is a representative who extends a 
hand of welcome and assistance in the name of 
our Church to emigrants coming from the Neth- 
erlands; in various cities the work known as Res- 
cue Missions is being prosecuted; attempts have 
been made again and again to reach the Mor- 
mons of Utah; financial support is given to the 
work in the Dutch colonies of South America; 
and in China, with its teeming millions, there 
are at present three of our men seeking to lo- 
cate and establish a Mission that will be able to 
absorb for some years to come the recruits of 
our Volunteer Band at Calvin College and Sem- 
inary, located at Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

May the interest of our beloved Christian Re- 
formed Church in the great cause of Missions at 
home and abroad never w^ane, but ever increase, 
and may the day dawn when our sons and 
daughters shall be found as Messengers of the 
Gospel and Ambassadors of the King in every 
land of the world. 



34 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



III. 
GALLUP AND HER SCENIC SURROUNDINGS 

GALLUP, N. M., with a present population of 
four thousand, is the railroad center of our 
Mission in the Southwest. Here the Missionaries, 
not only from Rehoboth, which is only about five 
miles away, but from all our inland stations, 
come to do their banking and trading. There- 
fore we thought it would not be uninteresting to 
our readers if we gave them a chapter on the 
above subject. Forty years ago no one could 
have foreseen that here, where at that time no 
human habitation, either white or Indian, dotted 
the landscape, there would arise one of the 
busiest and liveliest towns in the State of New 
Mexico. It derived its name from a Rostonian. 
D. L. Gallup, who was in charge of one of the 
numerous construction camps when the Atlantic 
and Pacific Railroad, now the Atchison, Topeka 
& Santa Fe, was laid thru that territory. Mr. 
Gallup being the official paymaster, it became a 
custom with the men when they wanted their 
pay to say, "Going to Gallup's." Thus the name 
became fixed to that locality, only the possessive 
form of it was dropped. At every Mission Sta- 
tion of our Church today we hear them speaking 
about going to Gallup. 

It was not so much the railroad, however, as 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 35 

the opening of the coal mines in this district, that 
really put Gallup on the map, and designated 
her "The Carbon City." The largest mines are 
found at Gibson and Allison, while within one 
mile of Gallup there are at least four smaller 
ones in operation. Altogether they employ inore 
than 2,000 men and carry a monthly payroll ex- 
ceeding $75,000, the gi'eat bulk of which is spent 
right there. In addition to this source of income, 
the town has an exceedingly extensive wholesale 
business, for the Indian traders from a radius of 
a hundred and fifty miles come to Gallup to buy 
the necessary provisions and bring in the wool 
and Navaho blankets obtained from the Indians 
in exchange for their merchandise. Nor should 
we fail to mention as a third asset of Gallup that 
she is today one of the regular division points 
of this great transcontinental railroad, and con- 
sequently supplies a great deal of work for the 
community. And last but not least, she is a 
shipping-point for the stock raisers of the whole 
region, hundreds of carloads of sheep alone are 
shipped from this point annually. 

In 1900 Gallup became the county seat of the 
new county called McKinley; prior to this date 
she was a part of Bernallilo County, of which 
Albuquerque is the county seat. Realizing that 
the distance betw^een Albuquerque and Gallup is 
136 miles, it is easily understood that there was a 
desire for a separate county. In the first years 
Gallup did not grow very rapidly, and was a 



36 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

real, typical, pioneer western town, altho she 
was singularly free from violence or events of a 
tragic nature. To be sure, there were occasion- 
ally Indian scares, and these scares might have 
more frequently resulted in tragedies had it not 
been for the presence of U. S. soldiers at Fort 
Wingate, who held the war-like tendencies of 
the Indians in check. 

The Methodist Church was the first to look af- 
ter the religious and spiritual interests of the citi- 
zens. In 1888 this Church affected an organiza- 
tion and erected its first building. They were 
followed in turn by the Roman Catholics, Epis- 
copalians, and Congi-egationalists. Another 
phase of the City's life may not be overlooked. 
With the operation of the mines, citizens from 
all over the world came hither, and Gallup, altho 
but a small town, was nevertheless of a very cos- 
mopolitan character. There is probably no other 
city in our whole country of the size of Gallup 
where so many and strange languages are used. 
We find among others, that the English (includ- 
ing Welsh, Cornish, Scotch, Irish, and Negro), 
Croatian, Montenegrin, Belgian, Polish, Hungar- 
ian (Maygar), Holland, Norwegian, German, 
Slavish, Greek, French, Russian, Roumanian, 
Swiss, Swedish, Serbian, Italian, Sicilian, Japan- 
ese, Spanish (Mexican), Bulgarian, Danish, and 
the Indian (Navaho, Zuni, Hopi) are represented. 

It has been said, and that truthfully, the South- 
west is rich in mystery and history, in natural 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 37 

scenery and in the ruins of perished civihzation. 
And no part of the great Southwest has these 
things in greater abundance and variety than the 
region contiguous and tributary to GaUup. It 
has been admitted by travelers of experience 
that in no similar area of America are there so 
many attractions to be found as in a radius of a 
hundred miles, with Gallup as the central point. 
We invite you to accompany us on a sight-see- 
ing tour of this region and be convinced. 

After driving forty miles to the south thru a 
continual change of scenery, wide extensive sec- 
tions of desert waste, beautiful and stately pine 
forest reserves, past typical Indian trading-posts 
and the well-known Z. I. ranch, we come to our 
first stop at Zuni, one of the Seven Cities of Ci- 
bola and concerning whose inhabitants, num- 
bering about 1,800, you are to read in other 
chapters of this book. The present Zuni village 
is probably not more than three centuries old. 
In former times this tribe, of a peaceful nature, 
had to seek refuge and protection from their 
enemies on some high point or peak where they 
built their habitations and lived until such a 
time that it was again safe to dwell in the valleys. 
Thus from Zuni, in the distance, we see Mount 
Taaiyalone at the base of which the first battle 
between the Spaniards and the Indians took 
place in July, 1540. Zuni itself is noted for its 
marvelous Pueblo Pyramid house, from the 
highest point of which the daily news is an- 



38 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

nounced by an official Zuni Crier. A little to the 
southwest of the village we also find an interest- 
ing spot known as the "He'patina," designating 
what the Zunics claim to be the central point of 
the earth. The shrine marking this spot is built 
up of stones, and within the enclosure are found 
the remains of offerings made by the believers 
out of appreciation for the favor that they, of all 
nations, may reside the nearest to the Middle of 
the World. Prayer-plumes in great abundance 
are also found all about the spot, silently testify- 
ing to the intense religious nature of this people. 
We cannot stop now to speak about the Zunies 
themselves; that will be found in a subsequent 
chapter. Above the Zuni village, about four 
miles, is Blackrock, where we find the headquar- 
ters of the U. S. Government Agency and a 
boarding-school for the education of the older 
Zuni boys and girls. Here also is located a Gov- 
ernment dam which cost approximately a half 
million dollars. The Zunies, a farming people, 
have learned to irrigate their lands from the 
water here impounded. Not far from the vil- 
lage we also see, rising about 1,200 feet above 
the valley. Thunder Mountain on the top of 
which are ruins of an ancient and extinct race. 

Resuming our trip from Zuni we find near 
Ramah, Inscription Rock, — the Stone Autograph 
Album, known in Spanish as "El Morro," the 
Castle. It is a noble triangular block of sand- 
stone, of pearly whitish color, with sheer walls 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 39 

over two hundred feet high, and suggesting in 
its stupendous grandeur a temple or castle built 
after the style of the Egyptians, only immeas- 
urably larger. The walls are seamed and 
marked with the storms and conflicts of many 
centuries, but the rock is of such a peculiar char- 
acter that it does not crumble when exposed to 
the weather. Therefore the inscriptions found 
on two sides of the rock remain almost as clear 
and as perfect as the day they were written. 
One inscription reads : "On the 28th day of Sep- 
tember of 1737, reached here the most illustrious 
Senor Doctor Don Martin De Elizaec ochea. 
Bishop of Durango, and on the 29th passed on to 
Zuni." A second one, being interpreted, says: 
"They passed on the 23rd of March of the year 
1632 to the avenging of the death of Father Le- 
trado-Lujan." However interesting these rock 
autographs are, El Morro attracts our attention 
in another way. We find by talking along the 
east wall, that it is possible to scale the rugged 
slope of the Castle. To our surprise we discover 
that it is practically split in half by a narrow 
canyon, in the center of which grows a tall pine. 
This canyon seems literally scooped out of the 
solid rock, and is large enough to hide a whole 
army if they observed a discreet silence. 
Perched on the highest summit of the two sides 
of the rock thus divided by this canyon, are the 
ruins of two very interesting pre-historic villages. 
Is it any wonder, therefore, that this rock has 



40 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

been considered of so great importance by our 
Government that by Presidential Proclamation 
it has been made a National Monument? 

Other famous rocks of this wonderland, but 
not found in the vicinity of Inscription Rock, 
are: (1) The Navaho Church Rock, a rock 
carved by the teeth of time and weather into 
resembling a church with many spires. It is in 
plain view from our Rehoboth Mission. Not far 
from this rock we find the famous Kit Carson's 
Cave and many other caves and canyons that 
simply defy description. They must be seen to 
be appreciated. (2) Shiprock, or also called 
Winged Rock, may be seen, on a clear day, from 
our Toadlena Mission. From this distance it ap- 
pears as a great ship serenely sailing on its way, 
but from nearby it resembles a large bird with 
outstretched wings. (3) Kit Carson's Monument, 
three miles from Fort Defiance, is a most singu- 
lar looking natural boulder about forty feet high, 
standing forth all by itself in the desert. At a 
distance it resembles a great statue, but viewed 
from nearby it looks like a huge vase. (4) The 
Haystacks. These are great boulders eroded by 
time and storm into the shape of stacks of hay. 
Close by we also discern what is known as the 
Natural Window. These are found about 
twenty miles from Gallup on the way to Fort 
Defiance. In this vicinity, w^e are informed. Kit 
Carson, famous in the history of the Southwest, 
fought and defeated the Apaches. 




Entrance to the famous Kit Carson's Cave. 



42 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Having now spoken of the most famous rocks, 
we desire to pay a visit to some of the Canyons 
of this region. In the vicinity of Chin Lee, ap- 
proximately sixty-five miles from Fort Defiance, 
we find the famous Canyon de Chelly (pro- 
nounced de Shay) on the right, and on the left 
Canyon del Muerto (the Canyon of death), so 
named because of the massacre of a band of 
Navahoes by the Spaniards under the leader- 
ship of Lieutenant Narbone during the winter of 
1804— '05. This canyon is twenty miles long, and 
like its neighbor to the right, is also rich in cliff- 
dwellings and other interesting features. 

These canyons, in their beauty and grandeur, 
simply surpass the descriptive power of pen or 
brush. From the mouth of the Canyon de Chelly 
to its head, marked by El Capitan, is at least 
twenty-five miles. El Capitan is an enormous 
monolith of deep red rock, fifteen hundred feet 
in height, erected by the Great Creator to mark 
this Canyon one of His greatest and most mag- 
nificent works in the realm of nature. Practi- 
cally unknown to the American tourist. Canyon 
de Chelly is doubtless one of the greatest scenic 
wonders of the American Continent. Altho ab- 
sorbingly interesting, it is not possible to speak 
of all that is to be seen in this canyon. We will, 
therefore, as it w^ere, just mention the various 
attractions in passing. Located in this canyon 
is La Casa Blanca, or the White House, the most 
noteworthy of the cliff-dwellings, of which there 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 43 

are many in this canyon. It nestles so snugly in 
a crevice high in the canyon wall, and is so per- 
fectly protected by the overhanging clififs, that 
today it still appears as if it might have been 
built but yesterday. The other notable ruins 
are : Antelope, Standing Cow, Sentinel, and 
Mummy Cave in Canyon Del Muerto. Mummy 
Cave ruin derives its name from the fact that in 
1882, a party under the direction of Colonel 
James Stevenson explored this ruin for the Bu- 
reau of Ethnology and found two mummies or 
well-preserved bodies in it. These canyons, es- 
pecially Canyon de Chelly, were always consid- 
ered by the U. S. military authorities as Navaho 
strongholds, and therefore all expeditions sent 
out against the Navahoes have had these can- 
yons for their objective, for here the Navaho 
sought refuge and shelter against all invaders 
of his territory. 

Breaking away, as it were, from this wonder- 
spot in Navaho land, we proceed fifty miles 
thru this country of magnificent distances, every 
mile of which holds something interesting and 
attractive, and we come to Ream's Canyon, a 
joint agency for the Moqui and Navaho Indians. 
Just thirteen miles beyond this point, situated 
on the first mesa, we find ^Yallapi, a Moqui vil- 
lage. We stop here for a moment because it re- 
minds us of the great Moqui snake dance, a 
prayer for rain, which takes place during the 
latter part of August each year, and is reputed 



44 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

lo be the most barbarous ceremony ever partici- 
pated in by human beings. Among the many 
distingished people who have been witnesses of 
this dance is the late Col. Theodore Roosevelt. 

Traveling twenty-two miles further we come 
to Oraibi, situated on the edge of what is popu- 
larly called "The Painted Desert." It is thought 
by some that this desert was at one time the bed 
of a sea or a vast inland lake. Continuing our 
journey for some eighty-five miles across this 
"Painted Desert," we stand on the rim of the 
Grand Canyon of Colorado. Truly and beauti- 
fully has it been said : "This Titan of Chasms is 
the climax of scenic wonders, and one can only 
stand in speechless awe in the presence of its in- 
comparable grandeur. Upon the earth's surface 
there is nothing to parallel it." 

Not alone, however, is this region, the wonders 
of which we have been attempting to describe, 
interesting from a scenic standpoint, but it is 
also unsurpassed by anything in the United 
States from the standpoint of ethnology and 
archcEology. Here, indeed, the scientist finds 
archaeology alive. Therefore ethnologists and 
achaeologists have found here a rich treasure- 
house as well as a veritable paradise for their 
endeavors. No wonder that our Government has 
commissioned and financed expedition after ex- 
pedition to explore these regions. The findings 
of these exploration parties fill volumes, and 
what we know of these native peoples today we 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 45 

owe, to a great extent, to their consecrated ef- 
forts. We can only touch upon what has been 
done in the hue of mapping, excavating, and de- 
scribing the ruins of the Southwest, but anyone 
particularly interested may continue the study 
for himself. 

In 1876 W. H. Holmes of the School of Ameri- 
can Archaeology wandered over the Navaho Res- 
ervation and noted the pre-historic sites and re- 
ported on them. After him came many noted 
scientists, Louis H. Morgan, G. Nordenskijold, 
Cosmos Mindeliff, Adolph Bandelier, Edgar L. 
Hewett, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, F. W. Hodge, and 
many, many others, too numerous even to men- 
tion by name. All of these have written valu- 
able reports or books of great interest on this 
subject, for example, the last one mentioned 
above, F. W. Hodge, is the author of the Hand- 
book on American Indians, a book which should 
be in the library of everyone who desires au- 
thoritative information on Indian subjects. 

The Pueblo Bonito was excavated by the Hyde 
Expedition. It was a thorough piece of work, 
and the reports on it make most interesting 
reading. As a result, the whole Chaco Canyon 
section has been made a National Monument, 
and it is to be hoped that the work of restora- 
tion will extend to these great ruins as it has in 
the Mesa Yerde, in the Parjarito Park and at 
Pecos. 

Under the direction of Dr. Jesse W. Fewkes of 



46 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smith- 
sonian Institute, the work of excavation and re- 
pair on the ruins of the Mesa Verde National 
Park was continued during the summer of 1915. 
It was a continuation of work already accom- 
plished on the cliff-dwellings, viz., Cliff Palace, 
Spruce-tree House, and Balcony House. Dr. 
Fewkes and his associates had the pleasure and 
honor on this occasion to uncover the first and 
thus far the only pre-historic Religious Edifice on 
the Western Hemisphere, the Sun Temple. It 
has the form of a large letter "D," and was made 
of two sections, one of which is recognized as 
the original building and the other an annex. 
The rooms of this Temple vary in form and 
type, some are circular, while others are rect- 
angular. The circular ones are identified as Ki- 
vas, or sacred rooms, while the purpose of the 
others is still unknown. In addition to the un- 
covering of this wonderful Sun Temple, this ex- 
pedition also led to the restoring of an addi- 
tional cliff-dwelling known as the Oak-tree 
(Willow) House. 

A great ethnological and archaeological study 
has also been made and is still being made of 
the Zuni people and the ruins of their former 
cities. (See article by Rev. H. Fry ling, Chapter 
XV.) This work is also done by men and women 
commissioned by the Government. Names es- 
pecially prominent in this work, besides some of 
those mentioned above, are Frank Hamilton 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 47 

Gushing and Mrs. M. C. Stevenson, While from 
the facile pen of George Wharton James we 
have such volumes of intense interest as: The 
Wonders of the Colorado Desert, In and Around 
the Grand Canyon, The Indians of the Painted 
Desert Region, etc., etc. 

Today most of the ruins, especially of New 
Mexico, have been mapped, some have been ex- 
plored, others have been described and pictured 
in detail. Any one reading this and who is par- 
ticularly interested in a study of these pre-his- 
toric ruins, should communicate with the Ameri- 
can School of Achaeology at Santa Fe, N. M., and 
obtain their illustrated bulletins, such as General 
View of the Archaeology of the Pueblo Region, 
by Dr. Edgar L. Hewctt, or Historic and Pre-his- 
toric Ruins of the Southwest, by the same author. 
A quarterly, called El Palacio, illustrated, es- 
pecially devoted to the Archaeology of the South- 
west, is also published by the Archaeological So- 
ciety of New Mexico and distributed to members 
of the Society upon the payment of the annual 
dues of $1.00. Opportunity sufficient, therefore, 
for any student interested in the subject to ob- 
tain first-hand information. 



48 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



IV. 
THE NAVAHOES 

THE DERIVATION of the name Navaho, or 
originally Navajo, is not positively known, 
but it is generally supposed to be derived from 
"Navaja," which signifies a sharp knife or razor. 
It is furthermore surmised that this name was 
given them because their warriors in former 
times, when they were still a warlike tribe, car- 
ried great stone knives. They, however, call 
themselves dine, which means men, people. 
They are, therefore, according to their idea, the 
people. 

As to their origin we are, of course, also in 
the dark. Many and various are the specula- 
tions on this point. It can hardly be questioned, 
however, that they are of Asiatic origin and a 
branch of that nation of Indians now known as 
the Athapaskan stock. This is confirmed by the 
fact that among the tribes of this great Indian 
family, there is a similarity in language as far 
as peculiarities in root-words, construction and 
phraseology is concerned. A second or further 
confirmation of this supposition is in the com- 
mon name by which all these tribes call them- 
selves, namely, men or people. 

The home or country of the Navahoes is the 
reservation, the largest now in the United States, 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 49 

situated for the greater part in the northeastern 
corner of Arizona and the northwestern corner 
of New Mexico. It is somewhat larger in area 
than the three New England States of New 
Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. But 
the Navahoes do not confine themselves to this 
definite allotment by the Government, altho it 
contains some 12,360,723 acres, or 19,313 square 
miles. In every direction they have gone be- 
yond the borders of their reservation. Isolated 
families or small groups make their homes either 
temporarily or permanently where springs, 
streams or pools are found. Some have even 
taken up homesteads and have thus obtained 
legal right to their holding, while others are 
simply squatters. 

The greater part of the Navaho reservation is 
in reality as well as in appearance, only a bare 
and barren desert. While the higher regions are 
covered with white pine, on a lower level we 
find the pinon and on still lower slopes the red 
cedar and juniper. With the exceptions of the 
San Juan in the northeast, and the Little Colo- 
rado in the southwest, there are no live rivers 
in this vast territory. The rainfall, which is 
usually confined to two short periods in the 
spring and in the fall, averages from ten to four- 
teen inches annually. The altitude of the coun- 
try ranges from four thousand to six and seven 
thousand feet, while the mountain tops reach a 
height of nine or ten thousand feet. As a result 



50 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

of this the nights are always cool and pleasant, 
for the heat of the day cools off rapidly as soon 
as the sun sets. The valleys, found here and 
there are, as a rule, destitute of trees, but cov- 
ered in many places with sage brush, cactus, 
yucca, greasewood and bunches of wild grass. 

The number of Navahoes is also variously 
estimated. For obvious reasons it is impossible 
to take an accurate numerical census or make 
an actual individual count. At present, we are 
told, there are in round figures approximately 
thirty thousand. But when we remember that 
many Navaho families have two or even three 
different places where they stay or live at differ- 
ent seasons of the year, it is not at all unlikely 
that the above mentioned figures must be consid- 
ered an over-estimation. When the Navahoes 
were brought back from Fort Sumner in 186& 
their number was estimated at seven thousand 
three hundred, but this was undoubtedly too low^ 
an estimation, for it is well known that Kit Car- 
son did not succeed in capturing them all during 
his invasion or raid of the Navaho country. The 
census of 1900 gave the number as seventeen 
thousand two hundred and four. 

The Navaho or Bedouin of our American des- 
ert has not yet generally adopted clocks or 
watches, but he still tells time by pointing out 
the position of the sun. For him there is no 
definite number of days to a month or a year, 
and the several days of the week are not desig- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 51 

nated by specific names. Just as in ages past 
and among various tribes of Indians, the Nav- 
aho reckons a man's age according to the num- 
ber of winters he has Kved. In referring back 
to any incident, a certain outstanding, well- 
known event is mentioned, and then the num- 
ber of years before or after that is given. So for 
many years the return of the people from Fort 
Sumner w^as used, so many years before or af- 
ter the return. Since the coming of the mission- 
aries among them and their observance of the 
Lord's Day, the Sunday has become a fixed date 
for reckoning purposes, and they refer to so or 
so many Sundays past or hence,, one or more 
days from or after Sunday. 

As among the people of old, so the Navaho 
today still measures the length or breadth of an 
object by the span, by the width of a finger or 
hand, or by stepping off, if it is a parcel of land 
to be measured. Distances between two given 
points are generally pointed out by the time re- 
quired to cover the distance in question, for ex- 
ample, by walking all day. Any one who has 
ever experienced losing his way and has found 
it necessary to ask directions of a Navaho whom 
he happened to meet knows how valuable and 
enlightening the information is when given in 
such vague and indefinite terms or figures, un- 
less perchance he has spent years among them 
and has become accustomed to all their ways. 

The dwelling of the Navaho, as we undoubt- 



52 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

edly know, is called a hogan, and is, to a stranger 
visiting among them, in every respect a miser- 
able and uncomely structure, devoid of any dec- 
oration, thus in direct contrast with the beauty 
and harmony exhibited by them in their blan- 
kets and silver-work. We surmise that the no- 
madic life which they lead has exerted a great 
influence in this matter. We also notice thai 
they have neglected the art of pottery making, 
so highly advanced among some neighboring 
Pueblo tribes, undoubtedly because pottery was 
considered too cumbersome to be carried along 
on their migrations. The art of weaving the 
most beautiful blankets, however, was not neg- 
lected but developed to so high degree of per- 
fection, that the Navaho blanket is known the 
world over. This art, of course, was not im- 
paired by an occasional change of dwelling- 
place, for the blankets are woven on a loom gen- 
erally set up alongside of the hogan. These 
hogans can be distinguished into two classes: 
the summer and the winter home. The former 
is as a rule situated near what is called the 
farm, while the latter is located in such a place 
where fuel is more or less easily to be had, and 
where there is range for the flocks. It is to be 
understood that more care is expended upon the 
winter dwelling, around which are built the 
permanent fixtures as corrals, etc., than upon 
the summer residence, which very often is noth- 
ing better than an open-air camp. Anyone ap- 




c 

bo 


X 



54 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

preaching either of these homes after dark, soon 
learns that besides sheep, goats and ponies, there 
are also dogs at every Navaho camp. These 
dogs are a sorry looking set of mongrels, but the 
masters find them invaluable in herding the 
sheep. Generally they are lean and mean, ill-fed 
and mistreated. The pups are early trained to 
help with the work, and are not infrequently 
nursed by a goat of the herd. 

Formerly the Navaho came into possession of 
his cows, sheep and horses by making raids upon 
his neighbors, the Pueblo Indians and Mexicans, 
but in later years he obtained them thru grants 
made by the Government. The horses are sel- 
dom fed, but turned out to shift for themselves, 
even when they are worked they receive but 
little grain or hay from their owners. They are 
kept primarily for breeding, riding, and driving 
purposes. The Navaho is a poor rider and 
driver, and is very indifferent to the needs of 
his horse. No missionary who loves his horse 
will readily allow a Navaho to use him. The 
herds of sheep are as a rule under the super- 
vision of the children and women, who keep 
them on the move from early morning until 
sunset, when they are returned to the corral for 
the night. No provision is made for the winter, 
as the herds feed on the withered grass and sage- 
brush, and when the snow gets too deep, pinon 
and cedar branches are cut off for them to graze 
on. In the spring and fall the shearing takes 



IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 55 

place, altho the spring shearing is put off as long 
as possible in order to avoid the early storms. 
During the lambing season the sheep are taken 
to such places that afford good grazing and wa- 
ter, so that the lambs may get a good start and 
be quite strong when it becomes necessary for 
the family to move. After the shearing follows, 
for the women, the sorting and w^ashing of the 
wool, then the carding and spinning, which is a 
long and tedious process. Having dyed the 
wool black, yellow, red, blue, etc., she puts up 
the loom and weaves one of those remarkable 
blankets of which we have already spoken, and 
which her white sisters are very proud to pos- 
sess. Less attention is paid to the cattle. These, 
with the unused and unbroken ponies, are 
usually driven to the mountains, from which 
the sheep are excluded. Occasionally the owner 
will make an inspection or with assistants 
rounds them up for branding. While the sheep 
are quite often the property of the wife, the 
cattle frequently belong to the man. 

From the earliest times agriculture was also 
one of the chief industries of the Navaho, but 
has up to the present been carried on along the 
most primitive lines. Corn, melons, squash, 
and beans are the main crops, but gradually 
oats, hay, wheat, and alfalfa are being added to 
the list. Since irrigation can be carried on only 
on a very small scale, and that at points where 
water is available from the Little Colorado and 



56 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

San Juan Rivers, the harvests are never very 
abundant. 

The art of silver-smithing is also found among 
the Navahoes, altho it is considered by authori- 
ties to be of comparatively recent date, probably 
developed during the last seventy-five years. 
There being no silver mines in his country, the 
Navaho silversmith purchases Mexican silver 
dollars, which are generally worth from forty- 
five to sixty cents of United States money. These 
dollars are molten and molded, or more often 
simply cut and hammered into the desired orna- 
ments and trinkets. One of the most curious 
and interesting as well as most puzzling pieces 
of work wrought by the Navaho silversmith is 
the necklace of silver beads. These beads are 
round and inwardly hollow. They are of dif- 
ferent sizes and so arranged that the top beads, 
or those resting on the neck, are quite small, but 
they gradually increase in size until those rest- 
ing on the middle of the breast are almost one- 
half inch in diameter. When seen and exam- 
ined for the first time one cannot but wonder 
how it is possible for the Navaho, with his simple 
and crude tools, to manufacture such a neat 
piece of work. Another silver ornament much in 
favor and worn with pride and show is the 
leather belt upon which are strung from ten to 
twelve plates or disks of silver, usually *of an 
oval shape, with a scalloped edge, measuring 
about four and a half inches in length and three 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 57 

inches in breadth, and not infrequently beauti- 
fully chased and engraved. Inquiring at the 
home of a Zuni Lieutenant-Governor, where we 
saw one of these belts hanging on the wall, what 
the value of it was, we were informed that it 
was worth from forty to fifty dollars. Large 
conchas or bridle buttons are also used, making 
a single bridle cost from twenty-five to thirty 
dollars or their equivalent in sheep, ponies, or 
other stock. The most popular pieces of jewelry 
manufactured, however, are the bracelets and 
rings, worn by both men and women. The men 
as a rule wear less than the women. The latter 
wear three or four bracelets on each wrist and 
a half-dozen rings on each hand. The variety of 
both, as to form and symbol, is great, and like 
the Navaho blanket no two seem to be exactly 
alike. Spoons, knives, sugar-shells, etc., are also 
being made more and more, but only to be sold 
to the whites for souvenirs of the Navaho coun- 
try. The one precious stone used much for or- 
namentation in ring and bracelet is the 
turquoise. 

The home-life of the Navaho is in many re- 
spects very simple. The father is nominally the 
head and has supreme authority, but if the wife 
has any spirit whatsoever, she easily exerts the 
greater influence, for seemingly the hogan is her 
domain and the children are hers, for they are 
reckoned to belong to the same clan to which 
she belongs. According to some the Navaho 



58 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

tribe is divided into numerous clans, namely, 
four main clans, subdivided into twelve sub- 
clans. The lines of these clans are definitely 
and sharply drawn, and the intermarrying of 
members of the same clan is prohibited. The 
children are reckoned as members of the 
mother's clan and not of the father's, therefore, 
seemingly at least, the children belong more to 
the mother than to the father. They are treated, 
however, by both father and mother with kind- 
ness and affection, and they in turn show an in- 
born, spontaneous obedience. The Navaho is 
loathe to command his children or to threaten 
them if they do not obey, consequently we can 
hardly speak of discipline, and as we have said, 
there is a sort of inborn respect and reverence 
for the elders, and far better than our own chil- 
dren, the brownies have learned that a child is 
to be seen but not heard. This has often caused 
embarrassment to the workers among them, for 
instance, when they send a school-boy to his 
home to inquire whether his parents have a mut- 
ton to sell, he will stand around the hogan, 
shifting from one foot to the other, for half a day 
without putting the question, simply because no 
one happens to ask him what he wants or what 
he is doing there, and he is not to speak until he 
is spoken to, and the person who sent him is 
simply kept waiting. 

The training of children is not a matter of 
grave concern to the Navaho parent. When 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 59 

still very young, at the age of five or six, and 
sometimes even earlier, both the boys and girls 
are sent out with the sheep. When the boys 
become older they discontinue this, sit on the 
father's side in the hogan, look after the ponies 
and begin to perform the duties which are gen- 
erally considered to belong to the man. As 
among most primitive people, however, the 
great burden of labor falls to the lot of the 
woman. The man builds the hogan, corrals, 
brings in the fuel if it must be hauled some dis- 
tance, but he does not always chop it up for 
use, occasionally he may also go after the water, 
does a little of the farming if a plow is used, but 
he busies himself especially with breaking the 
ponies for riding and driving, smokes and likes 
to talk, therefore he is seldom absent from any 
family- orxlan gathering. In more recent times 
he has learned to work on the railroad, for the 
Government, and at freighting for the inland 
traders, etc. The woinen have the care of the 
sheep and all that is connected with the prepar- 
ing of the wool, as we have already stated above. 
In addition, she does most of the farming, 
weaves blankets, and keeps the hogan in shape. 
She is the first to arise in the morning, carries 
the bedding, sheep and goat's skins, etc., outside 
and then gets breakfast. The meals which she 
prepares and sets before the lord of the manor 
consist of potatoes, beans, melons, pumpkins. 



60 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

squash, flour, and cornmeal mush or cakes, mut- 
ton and beaf, coffee, tea and goat's milk. 

It is probably known that polygamy prevails to 
quite a degree and extent among the Navahoes. 
The man may have as many wives as he is able 
to procure and maintain, and his standing in the 
tribe is reckoned by the number of his children. 
When married to the first wife there is a certain 
marriage ceremony, which we may explain later 
on, but this ceremony is not repeated with the 
others; they are designated as "added ones." It 
is very possible that the "added one" is a 
sister or even a daughter of his wife by a pre- 
vious marriage. Not infrequently a man mar- 
ries a woman with a little girl with the under- 
standing that the little one, as soon as she be- 
comes eligible, shall also become his wife. Quite 
often, or probably we should say usually, these 
plural wives live under one roof, or rather in the 
same hogan, and not in separate dwellings. It 
may well happen that a stranger calling at a 
hogan and seeing different women present, 
might think that some neighboring ladies were 
visiting there, when in fact all present, old and 
young, were the wives of the one man. It goes 
without gainsaying that some trouble must arise 
now and then because of these conditions, but 
we are assured that it does not cause as much 
friction and controversy as we might expect, for 
these women have been brought up from child- 
hood in the face of these prevailing customs. We 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 61 

are informed that we should never ask a Nav- 
aho : Is this your wife? but, Is this the mother of 
your children? The children of one mother feel 
more closely akin to each other, belonging to the 
same clan, than to the children of their father by 
other added wives. The relationship of children 
to one another, called by the same name, is no I 
always clear to one who is not accustomed to 
deal with Navahoes. 

Evidences of love between man and wife and 
between parents and children are not lacking, 
but because they are not demonstrative about 
it we might be led to consider them cold, indif- 
ferent and unconcerned. If husband and wife 
have been separated for some time, for instance, 
because of sickness one or the other has been 
confined in the hospital, when they meet again, 
they hold hands, say a word or two and for the 
rest only look at each other and are quiet. Kiss- 
ing each other, although adopted by a few w^ho 
have graduated from a Mission or Government 
School, is still very rare. It is told of a certain 
white man who had married a Navaho woman, 
that, after quite some time of married life she 
went to visit her folks. Upon her return he met 
the train to take her to their distant home. He 
was very glad to see her and so when she stepped 
up to him he embraced and kissed her. This 
token of happy affection was repaid with a re- 
sounding whack on his cheek, as she indignantly 
said: "Navaho don't do that way." When the 



62 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

children are off to school, either a Government 
or Mission Boarding School, the parents quite 
often come to visit them and they hardly ever 
fail to bring something in the way of a present; 
and while the parents are there, the children 
spend every possible moment with them. Dur- 
ing the school-year the children are continually 
looking forward to the two months of vacation 
which they will spend at home. Some, indeed, 
get so lonesome and homesick while at school, 
that they run away and go home, altho they 
know they will be brought back and be punished 
for it. 

Just here we are reminded of the fact that one 
of the hardest lessons for Navaho children to 
learn at school is to follow and obey the rules. 
Unless thoroughly explained, the why and the 
wherefore, they can see no sense in rules and 
regulations, for in their homes they never met 
with such restraining influences, but to a great 
extent were left to themselves. It is not possible 
on this account to speak of any special system- 
atic and intelligent training of children by the 
Navaho parents. The boys and girls simply pick 
up the language as it is spoken in the home, and 
in every way are obliged to accustom them- 
selves to the general run of things in and around 
the hogan. They know nothing about the com- 
mon forms of courtesy which we attempt to 
teach our children. They do not know the use 
of "Please" and they never say "Thank you," 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 53 

thereby very often creating the impression with 
a stranger that they do not in any way appreci- 
ate all that is done for them. They simply 
grunt, as it sounds to us, "No" or "Yes." As a 
matter of fact, therefore, the Navaho boys and 
girls as they grow up obtain a knowledge of 
many hurtful and vicious things thru eye- and 
ear-gate, which knowledge it would be much 
better for them not to have had until of riper 
years, if at all. 

Now it is very possible that we might 
imagine that these conditions give the mission- 
ary a blessed opportunity to go to the hogans 
and undertake the teaching and training of these 
children. Is that possible? Hear the missionary 
himself on this subject! Let us not forget that 
these Navaho boys and girls, when they are old 
enough to profit by the instruction of a Mis- 
sionary, are generally not at home during the 
day, being out wdth the sheep, out after water 
or w^ood, or off on some other errand; and in the 
evening there is no time, for then they are tired 
with the day's wanderings and very early seek 
the sheepskin for the night. Furthermore, there 
would be no suitable place for teaching in a 
hogan; first of all, there is no light except that 
of the fire in the center of the earthen floor, and 
that fire is there for heat and not for light, and 
undoubtedly the parents would resent it if the 
children were to receive so much attention, and 
last but not least, the hogan children are so 



64 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

very, very shy in the presence of strangers. 

Again we might wonder whether it would not 
be possible for him to look them up when they 
are out with the sheep, quietly sit down with 
them and by means of pictures and other ob- 
jects, teach them? He tells us, that by asking 
the question we manifest that we do not know 
the conditions of Navaho life. The boys, and 
especially the girls, out with the sheep cannot 
be approached, for as soon as they discover a 
stranger coming toward them, they hide, and 
when they hide they surely effectually disap- 
pear and it seems they are always on the look- 
out for strangers, and are therefore not caught 
unawares. This alertness is undoubtedly partly 
due to the fact that the girls, being alone or with 
a little brother, have often been and often still 
are attacked by brutes in human form. And the 
older care-takers, young women, know only too 
well what would be said should they be visited* 
while thus alone, by any man. Their reputation 
would surely suffer, and of that they are often 
more afraid than the whites. The instruction 
that the Missionary would be able to give to the 
children in the hogan or while they are out with 
the sheep would therefore be nil. 

While the Navaho boys and girls attending an 
Indian Boarding School are taught and begin to 
play many games in common with our children : 
the girls playing with dolls, at house-keeping, 
jumping the rope, etc.; the boys playing shinny,. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 55 

marbles, tops and especially the great American 
game, baseball, the little folks in and around the 
hogan and while out with the sheep, have not 
much in the way of games and amusements. The 
little girls will make pets of prairie-dogs and 
other animals and play with them, and in some 
localities the boys will play at archery or imi- 
tate the games of their elders. The men and 
women have games of their own, altho most of 
the original games of the tribe are no longer in 
use. Formerly, for instance, there was the game 
of Hoop and Pole which called for great dex- 
terity. The hoop was wound about with hide or 
buckskin, ranging from one to six inches in 
diameter. It was rolled over a course east and 
west, and the pole thrust at it when in motion 
in an effort to pierce the opening. This pole 
was decorated with thongs of buckskin and 
counts were taken as these strings, called turkey 
feet, lay across the hoop. The number of counts 
to be scored was decided upon before the game 
began. Another game of which some were pas- 
sionately fond was called the Moccasin Game. 
Four moccasins were buried, allowing just the 
tip of their uppers to show above the ground. 
A small pebble was hidden in one of the mocca- 
sins and its presence guessed at by the opposing 
party, who won or lost as they succeeded or 
failed in locating it. Still another game, espe- 
cially popular with the women, therefore also 
designated as a woman's game and not played 



66 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

after sunset, was the Bouncing Stick Game. It 
was played by them around a circle of forty 
stones. Three billets or sticks of wood were 
thrown upon a flat stone in the center of this 
circle, so that they would rebound from a sus- 
pended blanket and fall within the circle around 
which the women were seated. Counts were 
made according to which side of the billet or 
stick was up, one hundred and twenty points 
winning the game. Today, however, the Nav- 
aho being a passionate gambler, all games of 
dexterity or chance have no interest unless there 
is a stake to be won. He sees neither sense nor 
pleasure in playing cards or dice just for 
amusement. Modern cards have to a great ex- 
tent displaced all original tribal games, altho 
the Navaho's knowledge of cards is usually lim- 
ited to two games, called monte and coon can. 

In ancient times it seems to have been a gen- 
eral rule that both the boys and girls were be- 
tween the ages of seventeen and twenty before 
they entered the marriage state, but since they 
came in contact with the Mexicans, with whom 
early marriage was a custom, the Navahoes also 
began to give their children in marriage at a 
much younger age. It was no unusual thing to 
see a girl married at thirteen or even a mother at 
that age. At present, if the parties desire to be 
married legally, they must observe the require- 
ments laid down by the Government also with 
respect to the age limit, unless they present a 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 67 

permit of their parents or guardians that they 
consent to the marriage of their son or daughter 
at an earher age than stipulated by the 
Government. 

When a young man lias seen or met a girl 
whom he desires for a wife, he requests his par- 
ents, an uncle, or some good friend of his to take 
the initiative and begin the necessary negotia- 
tions to obtain for him the desire of his heart. 
A visit to the home of the chosen one is made 
by the intermediary, he speaks to the parents, 
and if they agree then generally the girl is also 
consulted, and if there are no objections on her 
part, an early date is set for the ceremony. If 
the bride-elect should not be willing, this does 
not usually prevent the marriage, but only post- 
pones it for a while. Somehow or other, after a 
while, by persuasion or otherwise, the unwilling 
one becomes willing or at least is married to the 
man approved by her parents. As soon as the 
date of the ceremony is determined, or during 
the period which we might designate as the en- 
gagement, which generally is about a month, the 
young people carefully avoid each other and 
there is no thought of courtship. The ceremony 
which makes them man and wife will be briefly 
described under the head of Customs, and the 
relation of mother-in-law to son-in-law will be 
spoken of under Superstitions. 

The older Navaho is very much concerned 
about the traditions handed down from genera- 



68 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

tioii to generation, and very seldom, and then 
only in non-essential matters, departs from 
them. The younger Navahoes, however, having 
attended an Indian School, either Government 
or Mission, do not cling so tenaciously to these 
traditions of the elders. It is becoming more 
and more a custom with them to follow the ex- 
ample of the whites. They court the girl they 
desire to marry, enter upon a formal engage- 
ment, and then marry in a legal way, very of- 
ten requesting the Missionary at the School to 
solemnize the marriage at the Agency or Mission 
in the presence of their parents, friends and em- 
ployees at the post. These ceremonies are in 
great favor with the Missionaries, for it fosters 
the fond hope that the Navaho youth of today is 
beginning to recognize the marriage state to be 
of divine origin and institution, and therefore 
sacred. 

Whereas the divorce evil is already so very 
prevalent and still on the increase among us, 
who should know better, having the Master's 
direct prohibition of it excepting on one 
ground, we are naturally curious to know what 
is found in this line among our Navaho neigh- 
bors. Now we are informed as to this that when 
trouble arises between a man and his wife and 
they are not able to settle it between themselves, 
not infrequently a council of relatives, that is, 
clan-members, is called and the trouble investi- 
gated and if possible an adjustment of the dif- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 59 

ferences is made. Quite often this procedure 
brings about the desired reconciliation, if not, it 
is possible that the matter is presented to the 
Government Agent of the district in which the 
parties live. He hears the evidence and gives 
his decision and this has the force of law, but 
very often the Navaho, even as his white 
brother, finds a way to evade a repugnant and 
an unsatisfactory ruling. If from the beginning 
an unsatisfactory decision is expected, the mat- 
ter is rather brought to a Missionary than to a 
Government Agent. Missionaries very often, 
therefore, serve as arbiters in marital troubles 
and generally are successful in reconciling the 
parties. This is especially true where a legal 
marriage has taken place and a separation or 
divorce must conform to the rules enacted by 
the United States Government. 

With the primitive Navaho it is quite differ- 
ent. A divorce as understood by us, is not 
known to him. Their marriage being in many 
respects nothing more than a co-habitation, their 
divorce is also simply a separation with or with- 
out mutual consent. Incompatibility of temper 
and unfaithfulness, real or alleged, are the usual 
sources of trouble. Generally the man steps out 
and leaves. The hogan, with its belongings, the 
children, and her personal possessions such as 
sheep, etc., remain with her. He takes his 
ponies, cattle, and personal belongings with him. 
Not long after this separation he is living with 



70 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

another woman and she, the forsaken one, has 
another husband and her children another 
father. In general it must be admitted that the 
morale of the Navaho people is no longer what 
it once was. According to some this is to be 
ascribed to the advent of the Mexicans among 
them, which has had much to do with the in- 
crease of dishonesty and immorality. We would 
add, however, that the unprincipled conduct of 
many Americans, especially soldiers and 
traders, and the illegal introduction of liquor, 
fire-water, has done much toward the demoral- 
ization of this people. A still further reason for 
it is to be found in the following observations: 
the Navaho is really a child in his conception of 
many of life's relations and by nature he is very 
covetous. Today he finds many opportunities to 
satisfy that nature as well as the awakened de- 
sires and passions of the flesh. He earns more 
than is good for him by working in the mines, 
on the railroad, for the Government, etc. The 
more he earns the more he spends and the more 
he has to spend for that which is wicked and de- 
bauching. Naturally there are always enough 
of the scum of the white race to assist him on 
the downward grade. 

The widow among the Navahoes is just as 
highly respected as any woman of good reputa- 
tion. She is not cast off, looked down upon, de- 
spised as the child widows of India, for instance, 
who live but miserable and dreary lives. The 




A Navaho Girl 



72 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Navaho widow is in no way shut out from inter- 
course with others or from any gathering of her 
people. She is considered unfortunate and an 
object of sympathy, but has no special privileges 
because of her widowhood. Frequently the hus- 
band's brother assumes the care of the family 
and looks after the interests of the children to 
secure to them the property left them by their 
father. The tie of blood is strongly felt, and 
many examples of unselfish care for a brother's 
children could be found. There is among this 
people no denying a poor relative because he is 
poor in the things of this world. The property 
of the woman remains hers, also when she be- 
comes a widow. The deceased's property re- 
verts to his relatives, unless in the presence of 
reliable witnesses he has made disposition of it 
to his wife or children before he died. If it is 
the woman that dies she has generally deter- 
mined beforehand what is to be done with her 
possessions. 

Another pleasure in which both men and 
women take a great delight is the trading at the 
various Indian trading stores on and off the 
reservation. The men generally dispose of the 
wool, while the women sell the blankets they 
have woven. This trading is rather a drawn-out 
affair, and quite amusing to a white stranger not 
accustomed to things Navaho. After the money 
for the wool or blanket is received, first the debt, 
if any, at the store is paid, then one thing de- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 73 

sired is asked and paid for, the necessarj'^ change 
being made. The clerk steps over to another 
customer and after a while returns to Number 
One who orders a second item, pays for it and 
receives the change; thus it proceeds, one item 
at a time until he has spent all his money or ha& 
obtained all that he wants. In some cases, no 
doubt, this custom has arisen from the fact that 
all traders have not been honest in their dealings 
with the Indians, and now he wants to be sure 
that he receives the right change every time he 
makes a purchase. On the other hand, it must 
also be said that the Indian has not been slow in 
taking advantage of a trader new in the busi- 
ness and not aware of the value of things put in 
pawn with him for merchandise received. Dur- 
ing certain periods of the year when the Indian 
has nothing to sell, he pawns his silver and tur- 
quoise ornaments Mith the traders in order to 
get the things he needs ii. the way of eatables 
and wearing apparel, etc. Now it behooves a 
trader to know what these tL:ngs given in pawn 
are worth, for a trader old in the business as- 
sured us that if an Indian could obtain twenty- 
five cents worth of merchandise more than Iho 
value of the pawn, he would never return to re- 
deem it. Some traders have paid very dearly 
for their experience, seeing that the value of 
turquoise is not to be determined by one who 
does not know the difference between the 
various kinds. 



74 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Before proceeding to speak more particularly 
about the customs, etc., we desire to give just a 
very brief synopsis of the history of the Nava- 
hoes. The first record or mention that is made 
of them is by Zarate-Salmeron, whose memoirs 
date back to 1626, and here they are referred to 
as Apaches de Nabayu. In 1630, a Franciscan 
Friar, in a memorial to the King of Spain, speaks 
of the "Province of the Apaches of Navajo," and 
says that they are great farmers, and further- 
more he mentions a treaty of peace which he 
was instrumental in concluding between the 
Navaho and the Pueblo Indians of Santa Clara. 
These Navahoes were evidently not an easy 
people to get along with, for it seems that they 
were great marauders and lusted after the pos- 
sessions of others. Their history is therefore a 
chain of wars and treaties. Previous to the 
dates above mentioned and until 1863, there ex- 
isted between them and the Pueblo Indians and 
afterwards also with the Mexicans, when these 
began to settle in that country, an almost con- 
tinuous guerilla warfare. When this territory, 
after the Mexican war, became a part of the 
United States, the Federal soldiers were sent to 
establish peace. Many were the campaigns di- 
rected against them, in 1846 Colonel Doniphan, 
and in 1849 Colonel Washington, and in 1854 
General Sumner headed expeditions in to the 
Navaho country. In the years 1859 and 1860 no 
less than three officers were charged with the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 75 

task of bringing them into subjection, namely, 
Colonel Miles, Colonel Boneville, and General 
Camby. When the Civil War broke out and the 
Texans invaded the Navaho country, all the 
Federal soldiers were for a time withdrawn, 
leaving the Navahoes to themselves. During 
this time they certainly overran the country 
rough shod, pillaging and marauding to their 
hearts' content. In 1863 the time of reckoning 
came. Colonel "Kit" Carson was sent by Gen. 
Carleton to subdue them. "Kit" was a soldier 
well-drilled in Indian warfare, understood per- 
fectly the futility of attempting to dislodge them 
out of their rocks and canyons, therefore he ap- 
plied a different method. He sent his soldiers to 
kill their stock and to destroy their crops and 
soon the Navahoes, the Bedouins and marauders- 
of the American Desert, were facing starvation, 
and the only escape was by way of surrender. 
Some 7,400 were taken as prisoners and trans- 
ferred to Fort Sumner in southeastern New- 
Mexico. Here they languished and many died, 
until upon the treaty concluded with them by 
General Sherman in 1868, they were permitted 
to return to their homes. Since that time their 
war-like tendencies have been broken, and they 
have been a peaceful, pastoral people, living by, 
with and off their flocks of sheep and goats. 

We will conclude this part of the Chapter by 
introducing to you the last great Navaho Chief, 
Manuehto, born in 1821, and died in 1894. He 



76 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

was lithe, muscular, and powerful, of tall and 
commanding figure, with a strong face, and eyes 
that expressed his dominating will. He was a 
born leader, of great mental power, a gifted 
speaker, of indomitable courage, haughty, brave, 
proud, and self-possessed. When, as a young 
man, by skill and courage, he turned the tide of 
battle, against the Mexicans, from an inevitable 
defeat into a great victory, he was hailed as 
Chief, since the reigning Chief had been killed 
in the battle. And from that time until his death 
Manuelito was the acknowledged and honored 
Chief, to whose almost absolute and autocratic 
swav some thousands of his tribesmen submitted. 



CUSTOMS 



WE WILL BEGIN by giving a brief descrip- 
tion of the primitive custom observed in 
marriage, for it is rather symbolical and inter- 
esting. The Navaho does not sell his daughter 
in marriage, as has sometimes been supposed. 
Nay, he scorns this idea vehemently, but never- 
theless in certain instances it is hard for us to 
suppress the thought that in spite of all his prot- 
estations, tlie earmarks of barter are very evi- 
dent. The gift of a prospective bridegroom to 
h;s bride's mother is all in accordance with his 
standing and possessions. Formerly ten horses 
were considered a proper gift for the average 
Navaho, but today the poorer classes olfer as 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 77 

little as one or two horses. It seems that sheep 
are also given, but these are usually butchered 
and make up part of the wedding feast. When 
the means allow, the most elaborate prepara- 
tions are made for a suitable festivity. In the 
morning of the appointed day, the best man or 
intermediary of the bridegroom drives the 
horses and sheep that are offered and that have 
been promised as a gift to the bride's mother, 
over to the home and puts them in the corral. 
Toward evening the bridegroom and his party 
arrives at the bride's hogan. Both the bride- 
groom and the bride arc dressed in their very 
best ornamented with all their beads, silver 
rings, and bracelets. 

As a beginning of the ceremony the bride- 
groom enters the hogan, proceeding around the 
south side of the fire to the northwest side, where 
he seats himself upon the blankets spread out on 
the earthen floor. Soon the bride, conducted by 
her father or uncle, enters the same way and is 
seated slightly to the rear at the right of the 
groom. The places to the right and to the left 
are now quickly occupied by the friends and 
relatives, guests of the family. A new basket, 
or at least one which has not been used for a 
ceremonial purpose, filled with a plain cornmeal 
gruel or mush is now placed before the couple. 
Upon this mush the father of the bride first 
draws a line with white corn pollen from the 
closed seam pointing to the east to the west end 



78 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

of the basket and then back again to the east; 
next with yellow corn pollen, he draws another 
line from south to north and back again to south; 
finally with the same yellow pollen a circle is 
drawn around the whole. At this juncture in the 
ceremony, a jar of water is set before the bride, 
who, with a ladle, jDours water over the hands of 
the groom while he washes them; then he per- 
forms the same duty for her. The bridegroom 
now takes a pinch of the gruel or mush with his 
fingers from just where the line of pollen 
touches the circle of the east side; the bride fol- 
lows his example, and then they eat it. Again a 
pinch is taken by the groom, each time followed 
by the bride, from the south, west and north 
sides, every time from where the lines of pollen 
touch the circle. This really ends the ceremony, 
expressions of joy and happiness, as well as of 
good and sound advice are given to the newly- 
wedded couple. 

The guests are now invited to partake of the 
feast which has been prepared, and the newly- 
weds may either finish the basket of mush or join 
with the others in the general feasting. The 
basket used in the ceremony usually goes to the 
bride's mother who could not be present because 
of the prevailing taboo. 

The birth of a child in the Navaho home is an- 
other occasion of great joy and happiness; many 
friends and relatives gather when a little opie is 
expected. A singer is engaged, not to act as ac- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 79 

coiicheur, but to assist with songs of blessing. The 
waiting period is spent with much taunting and 
joking between the men and women. If twins 
are born, this is not a matter of chagrin, but of 
genuine pride and ehition to the parents, who 
look upon it as a sign of particular divine favor. 
It is not true, therefore, as has been sometimes 
said, that the Navahoes always killed one of the 
twins. (Strange, however, when twin colts are 
born, it is considered an evil omen, and both the 
colts and the mare are killed, but not so wdth a 
cow.) A child that does not cry or make a sound 
when it is born is considered dead, and is quickly 
disposed of by casting it into the bushes or, as in 
former years, placing it in the branches of a tree, 
when with a little assistance it might have been 
saved. 

In former times children, in order to harden 
them to the weather and exposure, were bathed 
in the snow, but this, with many other customs 
of former years, is fast disappearing. But in 
common wdth all primitive people, and even 
with our own boys and girls, the Navahoes are 
not friends of soap and water. Water is seem- 
ingly meant only for drinking and cooking pur- 
poses, and not for cleansing and purifying. 
Morning ablutions are of very recent date and 
introduced by those who have attended either a 
Government or Mission School. The Yucca 
head-bath is quite generally submitted to, how- 
ever, by all for relief against the irritation of lice 



80 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

and vermin. The head and hair is scoured with 
yucca suds and dried in tlie sun; after this it is 
brushed with a whisk made of mountain grass, 
and then it is twisted and tied in a bunch on the 
back of the head, where it is secured by a hair- 
cord. 

The naming of children is not a matter of spe- 
cial festivity among the Navahoes as it is with 
some Indian tribes, but it is considered a purely 
private affair. The names given to boys and 
girls, according to age-old custom, are generally 
suggestive of war. Rarely are these given names 
of the children known to the whites. They are 
generally referred to as the son or daughter of 
so and so, and after marriage the girls are desig- 
nated as the wife of this or that man. It is also 
contrary to their custom to address a person by 
his name, but they use a familiar term of ad- 
dress, as my brother, my friend, and the like, and 
then the name of the party is probably learned 
from others after he or she has departed. Many 
are averse to revealing the name of another in 
their own presence or hearing. This often em- 
barasses a stranger who visits the Navahoes and 
desires to know the names of those whom he 
meets. By direct questioning little or no infor- 
mation is to be obtained, and only after one has 
learned the true art of questioning does he make 
any progress in having his curiosity and inquisi- 
tiveness satisfied. 

The burial custom is also one that should be 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 81 

of interest to us, seeing that the Navahoes, as 
ahiiost all superstitious heathen, are afraid of 
the dead. In former times, before they were 
subject to civilized government, slaves were gen- 
erally compelled to take care of the corpse, and 
when they had finished the burial they were 
killed and left by the grave. Today it falls to 
the lot of four or sometimes only two of the near- 
est relatives to care for the dead, unless they suc- 
ceed in getting some outside party, as a Mis- 
sionary, to do it for them, something that is 
greatly preferred. The dead, with his blankets, 
belts, rings, bracelets and all other personal pos- 
sessions, unless disposed of before his death, is 
carried wrapped in a blanket to a crevice in a 
rock or some secluded spot in the hills offering 
facilities for covering it quickly and securely. 
Spades, shovels and all tools used at the burial 
are broken and cast upon it. In former times it 
was also customary to kill the deceased's best 
riding horse, bridled and saddled, and leave it 
by the grave, but today if a sadle is left, it is 
first hacked to pieces so that it will not be car- 
ried away by some intruder. If the deceased 
died in a hogan, something which is most often 
prevented by removing the dying one, it and all 
in it, such as pottery and cooking utensils, is de- 
stroyed. Four days of mourning are observed, 
during which the mourners and members of the 
family that were witnesses of the death or saw 
the corpse, abstain from all unnecessary conver- 



82 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

sation, amusements, and labor. After the four 
days the dead is considered to belong to the 
spiritual world, the influence of which is to be 
dreaded. 

When the Navaho still grinds his own meal,, 
instead of using the American flour which has 
almost universally been accepted by them, he or 
rather she, for it is the woman that does it, per- 
forms this in an old-fashioned, laborious way. 
A large and convenient tlat stone is laid down 
and one of smaller size is taken, and being fairly 
well rounded, it rolls easily over the larger 
stone and the grains, thrown by handfuls be- 
tween, is crushed and ground. The griddle, 
which is still in use everywhere, in the absence 
of stoves, for baking cakes and frying meat, is 
a flat, round stone placed over the fire and 
heated. 

One of the most prevalent as well as heinous 
transgressions against the only true and living 
God, in our highly civilized and cultured coun- 
try, is the taking of His name in vain. In mo- 
ments of excitement or anger that sin is com- 
mitted by those of our people who have not 
learned to live and walk in holy fear before that 
God who has so emphatically declared that He 
is a jealous God, jealous of His name and honor ,^ 
and He will not hold guiltless any who take 
His name in vain. This is one of our national 
sins and a sin against which a mighty campaign 
should be waged by every one who acknowledges. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 83 

God as the Author of our liberty and the Foun- 
tain of all our blessings. Now we find something 
similar with our Navahoes. They are also accus- 
tomed to use forceful language when angry, ex- 
cited, or thwarted in their plans. Women are 
just as voluble as men, if not more so. But this 
must be said for them, their expletives and im- 
precations are usually references to things ta- 
booed, for instance, they will call each other: 
"shash" (you bear) ; "ma'i" (you coyote) ; "tlish 
bizede" (you expectoration of a snake) ; and 
many similar expressions or variations. And, 
of course, against this the Missionary, when oc- 
casion presents itself, testifies, but how ashamed 
and chagrinned he must feel inwardly, knowing 
as he does that his own fellow-men continually 
use words which are a thousand times more un- 
clean and wicked. Let us all do what we can in 
our communities against the transgression of the 
Third Commandment of the Holy Law. 

Speaking of law and transgressions naturally 
reminds us of punishment, and in former times, 
we are informed, severe punishment was meted 
out by the Nava'hoes for certain transgressions. 
Adultery was originally punished by amputation 
of breasts and vagina, but this proved too fatal 
to be continued, and so instead they amputated 
an ear or nose or put out an eye, after the man- 
ner of the Apaches. Since they have come into 
contact with and under the influence, more or 
less, of the whites, these customs have gradually 



84 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

disappeared and the only recourse for the of- 
fended party seems to be retaliation or divorce. 
A heavy fine of horses and cattle is levied upon 
the crime of rape, and is always exacted by the 
relatives, that is by the clansmen, of the victim. 



B. LEGENDS 



MANY LENGTHY MYTHS and legends of the 
Navaho Indians have been carefully gath- 
ered, translated, and compiled by Washington 
Matthews, M. D., LL.D., Major U. S. Army, Ex- 
president of the American Folk-Lore Society, 
etc. With intense interest we scanned his vol- 
ume, Navaho Legends, in which he describes, in 
addition to two incomplete rite-myths, in all de- 
tail, covering a hundred large pages, the Origin 
Legend, divided into four parts: (1) The Story 
of the Emergence; (2) Early Events in the Fifth 
World; (3) The War Gods; (4) The Growth of 
the Navaho Nation. The great difliculty of get- 
ting anything like a true version of a legend will 
be felt by everyone who will stop for a moment 
to consider that among an unlettered people, 
thinly scattered over a wide territory, there arc 
naturally many variants of every legend. No 
two men tell the same story exactly alike, and 
each story-teller generally maintains that his 
version is the only reliable one. Variations of 
the Origin Legend, which is the property of the 
whole tribe, and unlike the rite-myths, is not in 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 85 

the keeping of any special order or priesthood, 
are particularly numerous. Any one especially 
interested in the details of this legend should oh- 
tain the above mentioned volume from our Mis- 
sion Board Library in charge of the Secretary, 
Rev. H. Beets, LL.D., 737 Madison Ave., SE., 
Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

We will not attempt to make a synopsis of the 
Origin Legend as given by Dr. Matthews, but 
rather give you the brief account of it as found in 
the Handbook of American Indians, edited by 
F. W. Hodge. 

According to the best recorded version of their 
origin legend, the first or nuclear clan of the 
Navahoes was created by the gods in Arizona 
or Utah about five hundred years ago. People 
had lived on earth before this, but most of them 
had been destroyed by giants or demons. When 
the myth says that the gods created the first pair 
of this clan, it is equivalent to saying that they 
know not whence they came and have no ante- 
cedent tradition of themselves. The story gives 
the impression that these Indians wandered into 
New Mexico and Arizona in small groups, prob- 
ably in single families. In the course of time 
other groups joined them, until in the seven- 
teenth century, they felt strong enough to go to 
war. The accessions were from different stocks, 
consequently the Navahoes are a very composite 
people. Their appearance also strengthens this 
traditional evidence of their origin. It is simply 



86 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

impossible to describe a prevailing type; they 
vary in size from stalwart men of six feet or 
more to some who are diminutive in stature. In 
feature they vary from the strong faces with 
acquiline noses and prominent chins, common 
with the Dakotas and other northern tribes, to 
the subdued features of the Pueblos. Their faces 
are also a little more hirsute than those of In- 
dians farther East. Many have very flattened 
occiputs, a^ feature resulting most likely from 
the hard cradle-board on which the head rests 
in infancy. There is nothing somber or stoic in 
their character. Among themselves they are 
merry and jovial, much given to jest and banter. 
At first acquaintance, however, they are silent 
and seemingly unfriendly, to a stranger, but on 
closer acquaintance they are found to possess a 
great store of humor, and a cheerful as well as 
happy disposition. The proudest among them 
does not scorn remunerative labor. They do not 
bear pain wdth the fortitude displayed among 
the militant tribes of the North, nor do they 
inflict upon themselves equal tortures. 

Some years ago we were told an interesting 
legend about why they, the Navahoes, live in the 
arid and barren region of the Southwest, and 
have never sought to find a better locality. In 
former times they lived to the far, far North, 
but they were not a strong people and were sur- 
rounded by great giants who continually perse- 
cuted them. In their distress thy cried to the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 87 

gods, who answered their cry by telling them to 
flee to a certain rock which could be seen from 
their homes. They obeyed the gods, fled to the 
designated rock, and when they were all gath- 
ered on it, it began to move across the country 
toward the South. While thus traveling they 
saw beautiful fields and rivers, valleys and prai- 
ries and plains where they would have been glad 
to settle and reside, but the rock upon which 
they had taken refuge did not stop until it 
reached the vicinity of their present homes. They 
are living, therefore, in the place where the gods 
sent them, and if they should seek a more ac- 
ceptable country they would do so in disobe- 
dience to the gods and consequently could not 
expect their help and blessings. This rock, upon 
which they escaped from the giants, is the same 
rock we see from Toadlena, standing out by it- 
self and called Ship-rock. A second version of 
this same legend says it was a big bird upon 
whose wings they were carried from the North 
to the South, and that this bird turned to stone 
when it liad accomplished its task, to be a per- 
petual reminder unto them of what the gods had 
done for them, and therefore this rock is called 
and known by them as the Winged Rock. 

There is also a legend about the division of the 
year into twelve months. The coyote, a sacred 
animal, recognized by the Navaho for his great 
sagacity and wisdom, was consulted by the gods 
concerning the dividing of the year into twelve 



88 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

parts. He intimated doubt as to the wisdom of 
assigning twelve months each to the earth and 
sky, who stand in the relation of man and wife 
to each other. The sky is considered to be the 
male, the earth the female, the mother of all 
hving, because in addition to being the habita- 
tion of man, she produces all life, plant, min- 
eral, and animal. Because of the coyote's doubt 
the gods gave six months to the sky for winter 
and six months to the earth for summer. There 
arose contentions about the exact period of the 
first month and consequently it is known as 
"ghaji" (back to back), when the snow of win- 
ter and the warmth of summer meet, they turn 
their backs to each other and the one proceeds, 
while the other retraces its steps. 



C. SUPERSTITIONS 



TN THE SELF-SAME HOUR that the human 
•*• family, in Adam, became guilty of apostacy, 
it not only lost the true knowledge of God, but 
became a victim of superstition. In the state of 
righteousness the whole heart of man rested in 
his God. To serve that God was his all and all, 
his desire, his purpose, his joy. That God he 
knew as the Infinite, Omniscient, Omnipotent, 
the Architect and Builder of all creation, and 
who, by His all-wdse Providence, according to a 
predetermined purpose ruled and governed all 
things. In this blessed state there was no place 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 89 

for faith in a secret, mysterious power besides or 
above God. That came the very moment that 
man, thru wilful disobedience, forsook his God. 
Instead of rest and peace there came immedi- 
ately unrest and tumult in his heart and life, and 
he being afraid to face the God against Whom 
he had transgressed, he sought refuge against 
the wrath of that offended God in various sub- 
terfuges. Instead of faith in God there came 
superstition. These two stand related to each 
other as health to sickness. Superstition has 
correctly been designated the caricature of true 
faith, and the quasi-religious phenomena ac- 
companying and flowing forth out of supersti- 
tion, the bastard forms of true religion. To un- 
derstand the nature of superstition we must first 
know what the real essence is of true faith. 
Whereas faith consists first of all in a knowledge 
of the true and eternal, living God, according to 
His own revelation in His Word, superstition 
mocks and ridicules this and rejects both the 
fountain and essence of the knowledge of that 
God. They have this in common, however, that 
they both consider the metaphysical and super- 
natural, but the difference in the method of con- 
sideration is indeed great. They differ, as far 
as the East is from the West, in both contents 
and purpose. The highest desire and purpose 
of faith is to know God in His love and out of 
love to live for Him, but in superstition all love 
is lacking, and the purpose is to bring all the 



90 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

2:)owers of the supernatural into subjection and 
make them serve unto the satisfaction of our 
curiosity, the gratification of the hists and pas- 
sions of our flesh, and in every way to benefit 
and profit us in this present life. True faith and 
superstition consequently exclude each other. 
Anyone who truly believes in God, the Creator 
and Preserver of all things, in Whom we live 
and move and have our being, \Yho is transcen- 
dent above and imminent in the world, with 
Whom a whole nation is less than a drop of wa- 
ter on the bucket or the small dust of the bal- 
ance; such a one cannot be superstitious. Our 
superstition, therefore, testifies and witnesses to 
the lack or weakness of our faith. This can also 
easily be verified by any one who cares to make 
the test. Who are they, who are alarmed and 
frightened by phenomena in nature? Not they 
who truly believe and trust in the God Who 
stands above nature! Who are they who believe 
in bad omens, the hooting of an owl, the barking 
or howling of a dog after dark, etc.? Not the 
children of the heavenly Father, who have in- 
trusted their all to His keeping and who have 
learned to say: "I know in whom I have be- 
lieved, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
that which I have entrusted unto him against 
that day!" Who are they who believe in the 
signs and tokens of good luck, the finding of a 
horse-shoe, the seeing of a white horse and a 
red-haired girl at the same time, etc.? Not they 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 91 

who believe in the Father of Hght, from ^Yhom 
descendeth all good and perfect gifts! 

The ramifications and products of superstition 
are simply too numerous to mention, and as to 
its harmful effects in the history of the children 
of men, we can give only the merest suggestion. 
It has sacrificed countless lives, wasted untold 
treasures, embroiled nations, severed friends, 
parted husbands and wives, parents and chil- 
dren, putting swords, and more than swords, 
between them. It has filled jails and mad- 
houses with its innocent or deluded victims, and 
it has broken many hearts, embittered the 
whole of many a life, or, not content with per- 
secuting the living, it has pursued the dead into 
the grave and beyond it, gloating over the hor- 
rors which its foul imagination has conjured up 
to appal and torture the survivors. Let no one, 
therefore, mock and ridicule this mighty weapon 
in the hand of and wielded by the prince of this 
world. In a most tempting, alluring, amusing 
way he seeks entrance for this mighty power, 
to conquer and drive out faith. We may laugh 
in amusement at a company of younger or older 
friends engaged fn asking the Ouija Board to 
answer their earnest or foolish questions, but let 
us not forget, it is playing with fire. And they 
that play with fire may get burned. No earnest 
observer or student of the times is ignorant of 
the fact that in our day, while spiritual life runs 
at a verv low ebb and the simple faith in Jesus 



92 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Christ is on the wane, many, yes many, of whom 
we would not expect it at all, are turning to 
divination, fetishism, palmistry, sorcery, spirit- 
ualism or something else which are but some of 
the many ramifications of superstition. 

Whereas true faith in the living God and 
superstition exclude each other, it is very evi- 
dent that among all nations and peoples without 
the knowledge of the only true and living God 
superstition finds a very fertile soil. Therefore, 
also the Navahocs as well as the Zunies, with 
whom we are concerned in this book, are very 
superstitious. We can only give a few examples 
with the hope that it may strengthen the desire 
in us to help drive out this unclean spirit by 
making known unto them the God in Whom we 
believe, so that they, believing in Jesus Christ, 
the Saviour, may also be delivered from the 
dense darkness, ignorance, and blighting influ- 
ences of superstition. "What joy there will be 
in heaven when the broom of the Gospel brings 
from these people, in truth, the lost coins of the 
King's treasury. His image has been marred 
beyond recognition by the rust and dust of sin, 
but they will be recast and restamped, thus be- 
coming rich trophies of His grace." 

"There is an unyielding superstition among 
the Navahoes that a hut, camp or anything else 
they may be living in when a death occurs in the 
family is thereafter polluted by death. The 
dwelling in it of an unclean spirit makes it, ac- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 93 

cording to their ideas, exceedingly dangerous. 
This is doubtless a strong check on any ambition 
to put much money or labor into a permanent 
dwelling. The Navaho country is dotted every- 
where with remaining evidences of this super- 
stition. Fear of death and dread of evil spirits 
are spectres of terror to them. Strong belief in 
witchcraft and in spirit manifestations makes 
them vie well with the modern devotees of spir- 
itualism, which originates from one and the 
same foul source. The deification, as occasion 
may require it, of nearly every beastly object 
known to them, stamps their belief as not only 
primitive, but pagan from start to finish, no- 
where more fitting and accurately described 
than in Romans 1: 19-31." — Butler. 

All sicknesses and diseases are considered to 
be caused by the indwelling of evil spirits, and 
therefore the remedies applied are also for the 
purpose of driving out the spirit that is causing 
the trouble. For this purpose they have sings, 
and sand-paintings, and sweat baths, etc. The 
professions of Priest and Physician are conse- 
quently combined in one person, the Medicine 
Man. These medicine men are considered of 
great importance, and they have the knack and 
audacity of making the Navahoes pay dearly for 
their services. We are told the following story 
to illustrate that these medicine men are not 
always honest in their dealings with their own 
people. There had been a great drought for 



94 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

some time and the Navahoes were very anx- 
ious for rain. They desired the medicine man to 
make a prayer for this purpose, which he wa"> 
not unwilling to do, but it would cost a consid- 
erable amount, seeing that in this case the prayer 
to bring the desired rain would have to consist 
of a certain amount of the very finest turquoise 
ground to pieces. The natives produced the stip- 
ulated price and the medicine man alone re- 
paired to the mountain shrine to make the prom- 
ised prayer. The Missionary stationed at this 
particular place, knowing the medicine man, 
had his doubts whether he really did what he 
was paid to do and therefore the following day 
he clambered to the top of the mountain, found 
the prayer, scooped it together and took it with 
him. Having descended the mountain he wont 
to the trading-store and there showed the trader 
and some lounging Indians what he had found 
on top of the mountain. The following morning 
before he and his family had finished their 
breakfast, the mission-yard was full of excited 
Indians, headed by the medicine man, volubly 
accusing the missionary of interfering with the 
prayer and demanding, that because he had 
made it worthless, he should reimburse the In- 
dians what they had paid for it. But when he, 
the missionary, proposed to have the turquoise 
examined by an expert authority in order to de- 
termine its value, the medicine man suddenly 
became aware that in case that was done his 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 95 

deception would be brought to light and he lose 
his hold upon the people. To escape a bad situ- 
ation he peremptorily left the Mission, hurling 
anathemas upon the missionary and his work. 
The latter, however, grasped the opportunity to 
point out to the Indians the utter foolishness of 
the medicine man's service as well as his a]>- 
parent dishonesty. 

The Navahoes are also superstitious in the 
face of phenomena in nature. For instance, an 
eclipse of the sun or moon is considered to be 
caused by the death of the orb, which after a 
little while is revived again by the immortal 
bearers of the sun and moon. If there is an 
eclipse of the moon, the whole family, if asleep, 
is awakened; if an eclipse of the sun, then work 
or whatever they may be engaged with ceases, 
and the recovery is awaited in silence. To have 
a ceremony in progress during an eclipse is, con- 
sidered very inauspicious and is therefore gener- 
ally deferred on that account. 

We have all heard and read of the superstition 
pertaining to the relation of son-in-law to 
mother-in-law. These two may not meet or see 
each other, for if that should happen, blindness 
will result. Whereas they often live in the same 
camp, it calls for a continual watchfulness not 
only on the part of the persons concerned, but on 
the part of all the folks in the camp, that the two 
separated ones may not meet and see one an- 
other. If a man marries the daughter of his 



96 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

wife, which not infrequently takes place, thus 
his wife also becoming his mother-in-law, then 
this taboo does not hold. 

To mention no further examples of supersti- 
tion, we will close this Chapter by referring to 
the fact that the Navahoes also refrain from 
eating certain foods because of superstitious 
fear. For instance, waterfowls, and shore birds, 
with the exception of the turtle-dove, are con- 
sidered sacred, and therefore not eaten. Chick- 
ens are not kept because the Navaho does not 
care to eat the eggs. They also refuse to eat 
fish on the ground that they belonged to the 
people of the eleventh world in the emergence, 
and therefore are to be considered among their 
ancestors. 

High and strong are these walls of Navaho 
superstition, and not many indications of 
crumbling have thus far appeared, but the mis- 
sionaries on the field, at the front, in the midst 
of the fight, are not in any way discouraged, for 
they believe in Him, Who is not only able to give 
the victory, but Who has also promised it unto 
His own who prove faithful and true to the com- 
mission upon which they have been sent forth. 
For this victory and triumph over the darkness 
of death they continue to pray, to labor, and to 
hope, assured that in God's own time they are 
going to reap if they faint not. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 97 



REHOBOTH, NEW MEXICO 

TN OBEYING the Master, the Church has 
■■■ learned that the Great Commission does not 
only call for evangelization, preaching, but that 
also teaching and healing are to be used as hand- 
maidens in bringing the Gospel to the nations. 
To reach the Navahoes with the glad tidings this 
was also soon discovered. Therefore, in the 
year 1903, the Church purchased a squatter's 
claim, that was locally known as Smith's Ranch, 
about six miles east of Gallup, N. M., and there 
founded the first Christian Reformed Mission 
Boarding School for the children of Navaho In- 
dians. Mindful of the encroachments upon our 
privileges and liberties endured at Fort De- 
fiance, this infant institution was christened "Re- 
hoboth" (the Lord hath made room). It is lo- 
cated on the main line of the great transconti- 
nental railroad, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 
Fe, and for the benefit of those of our people 
who travel on this road to sunny California, a 
signboard has been erected facing the railroad, 
and bearing, in large black letters, the informa- 
tion : Rehoboth Mission School and Hospital, 
Christian Reformed Church. 

The first class in this school consisted of four 
boys and two girls, and the mother-teacher of 



98 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

this little group was Mrs. Nellie Noordhof Van 
der Wagen. The number of scholars gradually 
increased from year to year, and whereas at 
first it was rather a difficult matter to persuade 
a Navaho parent to send his child to this school 
with the promise of allowing him to remain un- 
til he was educated or had reached the age of 
about eighteen years, during the last few years 
it has not been possible to accept all who ap- 
plied for admission. Some parents even desired 
to have the names of their children enrolled on 
a waiting-list, so that as soon as there was a 
vacancy, their child might be admitted. But 
since the two dormitories have been built to 
house fifty children each, and the dining-room 
of the Mission House has been equipped for one 
hundred, that is the number of scholars that can 
now be cared for at this school. Employees have 
also been engaged accordingly: three teachers, 
two matrons, two housekeeper-cooks, one seam- 
stress and one laundress. It would not be a very 
difficult matter, however, to double or even 
triple the number of scholars, but that would 
mean also the doubling or tripling of the finan- 
cial support that would necessarily have to be 
given. At present the cost of supporting a child 
is one hundred and eighty dollars annually, and 
that really only takes care of the housing, board 
and clothing, while all the salaries of the em- 
ployees are paid out of the General Fund of our 
Heathen Missions. Instead of having the various 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 99 

Sunday Schools and Societies support a certain 
child, as has been the custom up till now, the 
Mission is attempting to obtain pledges of these 
organizations for a certain sum annually for the 
support of the whole institution, for it happens 
quite frequently that after a certain boy or girl 
is assigned to a Sunday School or Society, that 
particular child, because of sickness or some 
other reason, is removed from the school and 
another comes in to take the vacant place, and 
consequently a great amount of corresponding 
back and forth must be done to iron out the 
change that has taken place. 

While in the Reservation Indian schools, es- 
tablished and financed by the Government, the 
children receive on an average nothing higher 
than a fourth, or at best in a few instances a fifth 
grade education, our Rehoboth school is giving 
to all who are able to carry it, an eight-grade 
course. Several graduates of the school have 
submitted to and have been successful in pass- 
ing the regular County examination. In a few 
cases instruction has even been given in the reg- 
ular branches of a first year High School course. 
As a fruit of this the Rehoboth graduates on the 
Reservation can easily hold their own with those 
who have attended any of the Government 
schools. 

It is understood, of course, that all instruction 
is given in the English language, for that is some- 
thing the Government requires. Nevertheless, 
all the various branches at this Mission School 



100 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

are taught in the Kght of the Word of God, for 
the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is ac- 
knowledged by the teachers and all the other 
employees as the only infallible rule and meas- 
ure of faith and life. All this and more you will 
find more clearly and definitely stated and ex- 
plained in the following from the pen of the 
Rev. J. W. Brink, Missionary-Pastor of the 
Rehoboth Mission. Rev. Brink, after several 
years of experience in the regular ministry of 
our churches, felt constrained to take up this 
work among the Navahoes. He entered the field, 
sent forth and supported by the Eastern Avenue 
church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1912, and 
since that time has been actively engaged in the 
work. Whole-heartedly has he and his good 
wife given themselves to the cause. We surmise 
that sometimes there is a heartache when in the 
evening they sit together in their New Mexico 
home and think about their children far from 
home and the parents' care in order to obtain 
an education. That is probably one of the most 
difficult matters for a Missionary, when his chil- 
dren are of that age when they especially have 
need of the parents' care and watchfulness, they 
must be sent from home in order that they may 
obtain more education than is to be had on the 
field. The Church that sends out men and wo- 
men into such places with the Gospel, should 
assuredly reckon with this. Let us remember 
not only Brother and Mrs. Brink, but all our 
Missionaries in our prayers to the Throne above. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO iQl 

BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO THE NAVAHO 
AT A MISSION BOARDING SCHOOL 



REV. J. W. BRINK, Missionary-Pastor, Rehoboth, N. M. 

IT MAY not be known to every reader just what 
a Mission Boarding School is. Commonly the 
term describes an institution for heathen chil- 
dren of either or both sexes, where they are 
wholly supported a certain number of months or 
the whole year. The exalted purpose of such a 
School is to give the children a christian train- 
ing and education, that they may, by the grace of 
God, grow up to be christians and honorable 
citizens, showing forth the redeeming love of 
God in Christ Jesus, thru the Holy Spirit, and 
serving as means in the providence of the Lord 
to lead their people to Christ, the Church and 
christian living. As a rule everything is pro- 
vided free of charge, in the name of the Lord 
and in obedience to His great Commission. Such 
schools there are many thruout heathendom 
where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is seeking and 
gaining a foothold, 

Rehoboth, considered as a Mission simply, is a 
Mission Boarding School, furnishing such an 
education to boys and girls of the Navaho Indian 
trible. From it the Gospel radiates for miles 
around to the Navaho living on or off the Reser- 
vation. The one all-absorbing task is the bring- 
ing of the Gospel of salvation thru faith only to 
children and adults. Our chief concern in this 



102 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

writing is to set forth in what manner this is done 
to the pupils of the School, and to such Navaho 
as tarry for a shorter or longer period at this 
post. Nothing will be said touching the field la- 
bors of Mr. William Mierop, missionary for 
campwork exclusively, rich and edifying though 
the material is, since this would be going beyond 
the subject assigned to me. 

Before going further it will be well to remind 
that Rehoboth is also the official name of a con- 
gregation of our Church, worshipping in the 
chapel at this post. It consists largely of young 
people who have been led to Christ Jesus thru 
the labors of missionaries at Government 
Schools and here. It was originally organized at 
Fort Defiance and when our Church relinquished 
that important and promising part of the Nav- 
aho mission field, it finally settled at Rehoboth. 
Hence the ordained Gospel laborer at this place 
functions in a twofold relation: he is the mis- 
sionary to the Navaho and the pastor to the con- 
gregation. In the latter capacity the Eastern 
Avenue congregation, whose missionary he is, 
"loaned" his services to this little group of Chris- 
tians. Hence the title: Missionary-Pastor. 

An important part of the work at Rehoboth is 
the preaching of the Word on the Lord's Day and 
other occasions, to all who gather in the chapel. 
This gathering ordinarily consists of pupils of 
the school and the workers. Oft there is a visitor 
or two. The language used is the English, as we 



104 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

have not been enabled to have Indians from sur- 
rounding camps attend our meetings for wor- 
ship, altho we repeatedly invite and urge. Should 
at some future time interest develop in this di- 
rection, and the attendance warrant it, we shall 
then make arrangements which will bring them 
the Gospel in their own language. The larger 
pupils and workers worship twice, the little boys 
and girls once every Sabbath. And our chapel 
is almost filled to its limits. When there is 
company it is uncomfortably full. 

This preaching is the most difficult task the 
minister has. A moment's reflection will con- 
vince a doubter of this. The Word of God is to 
be brought to children, lads and lassies and 
youths but the slightest removed from heathen- 
dom, at best only beginning to be founded on the 
infallible Word of God and at the worst wholly 
unacquainted with, maybe indifferent to it and 
the salvation it offers without money and with- 
out price. A common characteristic of all, with 
a possible exception, is the preference to be else- 
where much rather than at school. This (need 
it be said?) has its effects on the spirit in which 
meetings for divine worship are attended. And 
it does not tend to its advantage. It is but fair to 
say, however, and we do it with thanks to the 
Lord and in appreciation of our boys and girls, 
the spirit of attendance is improving year by 
year. The first year of our work here it not in- 
frequently happened that our Principal, Mr. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO ]05 

Gerrit Heiisinkveld (now M. D.), would look 
over the meeting, leave the school-room and 
soon return with one or more of the larger boys, 
whom he had called or drawn out from their 
hiding-place, generally under the bed in the 
dormitory. This is wholly a thing of the past. 
And we challenge any congregation to show a 
group of children and youth as well-behaved as 
our pupils generally are. 

Our little ones understand but little of the 
English language. It is surprising, however, the 
evidity with which they apply themselves to rem- 
edying this lack, and the speed with which they 
reach this laudable object. Could we only get 
the use of their tongue as readily! Those who 
are older and more advanced, while not exactly 
at home in the language of the land, have made 
gratifying progress in this respect, which en- 
ables them to follow the discourse if couched in 
simple words and handling the truth plainly and 
practically. They oft encourage the preacher by 
their attention and remarks after their return 
from worship. Among them is a sprinkling of 
girls, who have confessed Jesus as their Saviour 
and who have attained to some practical knowl- 
edge of the truth, in whose heart the Holy Spirit 
is laboring on, enlightening the eyes of their 
mind and applying the truth as it is in Christ 
Jesus. Frequently they will ask their matron to 
repeat something that was said and to explain 
what was not comprehended. And then one 



106 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

finds that they have much the same difliculties 
that other young people have in comprehending 
Scripture and applying it to life, only more so. 
But it also appears that the Holy Spirit can open 
their eyes and give them visions of spiritual 
things, create and strengthen spiritual longings 
in their hearts, as well as He can and does in the 
case of others. Still, it must he ever kept in 
mind : getting down to the level of young people 
found in our congregations is not enough here; 
the minister must get down below that many a 
foot, and then even he may not get down to a 
level low enough to reach them as he would. But 
be patient, give our Navaho boys and girls an 
adequate chance, continue the instruction of our 
Navaho brethren and sisters in the Lord, and 
future generations will demonstrate that many 
of our beloved Brownies are not one whit be- 
hind the more favored Americans in ability to 
learn and put into practice. 

Sometimes humorous applications are made 
to something heard while at "church." A while 
ago baskets were put up for basketball. The 
next day it blew a gale, down went both sup- 
ports, altho of generous proportions. Along 
came one of our younger girls, with a few com- 
panions. The company stopped and viewed the 
ruin wrought. As they turned away the leader 
said: "And it was built upon a rock." (Matth. 
7:25.) One day the older lads were teaming 
in a carload of hay. Some riding on the load, 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO iQ? 

others walking. At the barn the driver was slow 
in getting down, too slow to suit one of the fel- 
lows. This boy cried out to him : "Zaccheus, 
make haste and come down." (Luke 19:5.) 

Part of the Sunday congregation consists of 
christian men and women, who have come from 
East and West, North and South, to labor in this 
part of the harvest in various capacities. This 
complicates preaching matters for the mission- 
ary, since he must also keep these in mind when 
preparing and delivering the Message. All are 
willing "to take what the children get," all urge 
him to "think of the children first," and express 
themselves satisfied if these "get it." And they 
pray for the preacher that the Lord may enable 
him to minister to the children according to their 
ability to hear the truth. Still, all of these have 
their spiritual needs, must, while here, also grow 
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, may not be treated as children, which 
could have a stunting effect upon their spiritual 
life and serviceability. Therefore the preach- 
ing must bring to them the bread of life suitable 
to them. At the least, an effort to do so must be 
prayerfully and honestly made. 

I might yet add that our Sabbath meetings are 
congregational, that is, it is the Church of Jesus 
Christ at this place, which meets for worship, 
not a mixed concourse of people. Therefore we 
have everything pertaining to the assembly ar- 
ranged on that basis. This is at once an educa- 



108 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

tion to the "school" in matters of the christian 
Church and tends to enable them, after leaving 
here and being transferred to another congrega- 
tion, to enter into the spirit of it all. Our Nav- 
aho christians, who were educated here, would 
understand much of everything customary in 
our churches thruout the land. 

Then there is the old-fashioned catechism. We 
consider this the most excellent agency for train- 
ing children and youths of our Church in the 
way wherein they should go. It is indispensible. 
The Church which neglects it does so at its peril. 
History emphatically says so. And we know of 
no other means so well suited, if properly used, 
to bring the young Navaho to saving faith and 
confession of Christ, and to equip him or her 
for sustained christian life later on as is this 
same catechism. Rehoboth's young people are 
grouped into five or six classes for catechetical 
instruction. And they attend nine or ten months 
of the year, one hour every week for each class. 
At the dormitories the matrons do the work gen- 
erally tended to by our mothers, viz., they teach 
the little ones their "questions," and see to it 
that those older go to the various classes pre- 
pared. Unceasing is their vigil at this point. On 
it practically everything depends. Not only do 
they superintend the acquiring of knowledge, 
but they often intersperse instructive remarks, 
explanations, and the like. In the case of the 
very little ones much of the learning is of neces- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 109 

sity mechanical. Let us listen at the door as the 
little tots learn their sliort lesson. Up against 
the doors behind which the clothes are stored is 
ranged quite a row of little fellows. The ques- 
tion propounded by the matron, who is repair- 
ing tears and rips, is "How many gods are 
there?" And the answer, which they are to re- 
peat is, "There is only one God." They have 
progressed so far that they can repeat this with- 
out much more than a little prompting now and 
then. And all you hear along that line of bright, 
brown faces is, "There is only one God." "There 
is only one God." Till you are sure that not one 
of them will ever forget that precious and im- 
portant truth. After some time the next ques- 
tion and answer are taken up in the same man- 
ner. In class these tots are able and eager to 
answer the question put to them correctly pro- 
vided you try no tricks, such as skipping a ques- 
tion. As they get more familiar with Borstius 
they learn more sensibly, oft assisted by an older 
pupil. Until they get their lesson unaided. One 
class has a number of blank questions which are 
to be answered from he Bible, hints being given 
by texts suggested, and I am sure that my fellow- 
ministers would enjoy the work this class, of 
which all but one is under fifteen years, does. 

It is to be expected that beginners do not un- 
derstand the meaning of the words, and oft pro- 
nounce them in a manner which clearly shows 
this. One of these was learning the ten plagues 



110 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

of Egypt. He was reciting them aloud. It did 
not sound just right. So Mrs. Brink bade him 
repeat. This is what he was saying: "Sore boils 
on man and beef!" "Where did Lazarus go?" 
was the question put to another boy. His start- 
ling answer was: "The angels carried him into 
Abraham's bootsies." But they soon outgrow 
things of this sort. 

A handmaiden in leading these littler and 
larger children, with but few exceptions born of 
heathen parents, coming out of heathen camps, 
to Jesus, is the Sabbath School. This meets every 
Sabbath afternoon, for one hour. Its superin- 
tendent is brother Bosscher. He is assisted by a 
number of workers, each having a class. In the 
dormitories and dining-room the golden text is 
conspicuously posted. And it is oft referred to 
and repeated, so that it is quite generally known 
by class-time. In the dining-room selections of 
Bible portions are read which are more or less 
closely related to next Sabbath's lesson. This 
portion is short. It keeps the main truth of the 
lesson before the children thruout the whole 
week. When the children are home during the 
summer many is the Bible story they tell, oft 
using a picture, or Bible Story booklet with its 
bright illustrations as drawing card. Each child 
who can read a bit receives such a booklet when 
leaving school for the summer. Some of the 
older pupils take a Bible or Gospel along. And 
not infrequently a hymn book, The Good News 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO m 

in Story and Song, is included in the vacation 
bundle or package. In this way many an Indian 
little one gets its first impression of Jesus. The 
older folks enjoy a picture very much. They 
often listen to the talk and so hear the Gospel. 
We have been met in camp with the remark: 
"We know that story." Upon my asking whence 
they had their knowledge, the answer was: 
"W told us." 

In molding the characters of these children 
after the pattern of Christ, our Mission School 
has a very important part. Its relation to the 
other christian endeavor here is something like 
that of the Christian School at home and the 
pastoral work for the young of the congregation. 
This is one of the great advantages Rehoboth's 
pupils have over those of even the best Govern- 
ment School for Indians, on or off the Reserva- 
tion. They attend a Christian School, Christian 
because Mission. The School teaches eight 
grades and makes use of three rooins, excel- 
lently suited for the work. Our three teachers 
are laboring here because they would be instru- 
mental in bringing the light of the Gospel to 
these boys and girls and help equip them for 
useful life and honorable citizenship. And they 
are putting their training and experience to fine 
use. There is marked improvement all along the 
line. Indeed, that School with its dormitories, 
is a mighty leavening force, by the grace of God. 

Every grade receives definite Bible instruction 



112 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

each day. And every child sees prayer and 
hears it in its exercise. Christian songs also help 
to make the Gospel attractive. Stories from Old 
and New Testament are told with or without 
charts such as are used in our Sabbath schools. 
The lower grades sit with folded hands listening. 
The older grade pupils have a Bible and follow 
as the teacher reads, explains and applies. Dur- 
ing the instruction hour the Bible is often cited 
as supporting or throwing light upon what the 
text-book teaches. Should a difference be found 
between the Bible and text-book, the Word of 
God is final authority. Thus the child mind 
gradually realizes that for a christian the Word 
of God is infallible and it only. We firmly be- 
lieve that, even though other things are not al- 
ways equal, the results will be as Solomon as- 
sures us with so much confidence : "Train up a 
child in the way which he should go; and when 
he is old, he will not depart from it." 

True, we do not see the working out of this 
word in the life of some of those how have left 
school, nor do all here respond to the Lord's 
grace as we pray they may. Nay, some have 
left upon whom no definite impression towards 
faith in Jesus and christian life seems to have 
been made. Both young men and young women 
revert to heathendom soon after returning to 
the environment whence they came. So, too, 
pupils have saddened hearts interested in their 
temporal and eternal welfare by frankly ac- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO US 

knowledging that they were not at all interested 
in the Gospel, gave little or no thought to Jesus 
and His love, felt no sorrow for sin, no fear for 
the wrath of God. One said, "I never think 
about these things at all." And yet, the very one 
saying this is a most attentive listener when the 
Word is preached. It would not be strange at 
all if those who so feel and talk will be the first 
among our boys to become concerned because of 
sin, the first to seek after Jesus till they find 
Him, the first to confess His name and be en- 
rolled as members of His Church. 

While writing this a case comes to my mind. 
Some years ago one of our teachers came to the 

missionary in sorrow, saying: "R says he 

will not join with the other children in the re- 
peating of the Lord's Prayer, with which we be- 
gin our morning work." He says, "I do not want 
to pray, for I do not want to be a christian." 
"What shall I do?" After some further coun- 
seling she was instructed to send the lad to the 
missionary. She did so. We had an earnest 
moment together, and before he left this was 

said to him: "Look here, R , you are a 

pupil of this School and must obey its rule 
whether you want to be a christian or not. Now 

you go back and tell Miss T that you will 

obey. And, remember, dear boy, that Jesus 
loves children and would have them as lambs 
of His flock. Do not turn away from Him, but 
let Him lay His hand upon you and bless you." 



114 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

There was no more trouble with him after this, 
on this score. And maybe three years or so after 

R came to Consistory without previous 

notice, requesting to be baptized. He was 
thoroughly questioned, his record gone into and 
we could do nothing but gladly admit him to 
Baptism and the Lord's table. The lad became 
ill. His illness increased till for over two years 
he was a patient at our hospital and seldom left 
his bed. Slowly but surely that body succumbed 
till at last it was apparent to him, too, that he 
must die, even as one of his mates had died of 
practically the same disease in his parents' 
camp. Oh, but he did have times of despon- 
dency! But there were longer seasons of faith 
and bright hope in Jesus. One day he said : "I 
would rather die than get better, for if I die I 
shall be rid of sin. If I live I may go back to the 
old way." That wish was gratified. His remains 
lie with other dear departed dead at rest in the 
grave ordained by his Lord. He, too, awaits the 
glad resurrection morn, when Jesus comes again 
to fetch His people. 

The Lord has from year to year blessed the 
educational, nurturing portion of the work here 
in the drawing of children to Him. 

Much more is done in the dormitories to form 
christian character and to lead young Navaho 
christians in the way of christian life than one 
could tell about. Every morning all meet before 
breakfast with their respective matrons, a por- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 115 

tion of the Word is read aloud, the children fol- 
lowing in their Bible, then all kneel in prayer at 
which, sometimes, one of the pupils leads. Dur- 
ing the day there is often occasion for exhorta- 
tion, encouraging, rebuke, personal talk, and 
prayer. Not infrequently, especially lately, 
pupils will come to the matron and ask her to 
pray with them in her room or in their sleep- 
ing quarters. One evening such a "cottage 
prayer meeting" in the matron's room was inad- 
vertently interrupted. Oh, the sight! About a 
dozen pupils were ranged around their matron 
on their knees. She had led first, and then some 
of the fellow-worshippers presented petitions 
for their people, the pupils of the other dormi- 
tory, the workers, and the work. A little group 
will kneel at a bed, at retiring, and unite in 
prayer, one or each leading in turn. Surely, 
there is joy in heaven because of these doings 
of the Holy Spirit in these hearts. 

Nearly every spring a boy or two and some 
girls come to the matron and confide to her that 
they desire Baptism. Soon the missionary is 
having confidential talks with them, and ere- 
long, if they are not too young according to the 
rule laid down by our Board, they form a class 
which has as its object leading them a bit deeper 
into the truth, clarifying their vision, strength- 
ening their resolution, trying them out. Some- 
times it is thought best to let them spend the sum- 
mer vacation at home before admitting them to 



116 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Baptism, that they may take stock of themselves 
amid the idolatrous, sinful, tempting surround- 
ings, gain a deeper knowledge of themselves and 
also learn to lean more wholly and heavily on 
the Lord. Our most joyful and edifying hours 
are those spent with these children in Christ. 
They do not always say a great deal, but one can 
feel that whatever Jesus says, whatever is taught 
that He would have us do, is accepted as good. 
Often have we had the Word of Jesus brought 
home to us in this connection: "Verily, I say 
unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the King- 
dom of God as a little child, shall in no wise 
enter therein." (Luke 18: 17.) 

Gospel work is also carried on at the hospital. 
I could say: All that is done in the hospital is 
Gospel work, for the whole care of the ill and 
the hurt by Dr. Mulder, Nurse Lam and assis- 
tants is Gospel labor. It is done at the command 
of our Master, the Great Physician, and points to 
Him as such. Besides this there are meetings 
with the patients and personal talks continually, 
wherein the Gospel is brought to them and 
pressed home, always with application to their 
life and illustrations taken from it. Now we 
read a portion of Scripture to them in their own 
language. Then a patient or another serves as 
interpreter to a Gospel talk. This is done at 
least three or four days of nearly every week, 
to from one to twenty or more patients. It is a 
rule that all who receive the care of the hospital 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 117 

shall attend these meetmgs, when able. Satur- 
day evenings are sometimes utilized to give a 
resume of the week's talks together with a stere- 
opticon. Our Mission has two, both using elec- 
tricity, one for slides only, the other for opaque 
objects, such as clippings from magazines, Bible 
pictures, and the like. That Saturday evening 
meeting is always evangelical in its purpose, al- 
though every picture thrown on the screen is 
not biblical. We also show them foreign lands 
and peoples and the like. They take a gratify- 
ing interest in this occasion, sitting about or ly- 
ing on their beds, children and grown-ups. 

The Navaho is naturally taciturn. He does 
not readily say what he feels or thinks. Unless 
it be that he is displeased, grouchy, sarcastic. 
He is not backward in showing that, as our assis- 
tants in the hospital know. But at times they 
will express their approval of what is said and 
ask for more. Ofttimes they talk over these mat- 
ters as they lie abed, or sit about. While this 
does not need to mean that they believe and act 
upon the Message, it is encouraging. Anything 
but this apathy, this submissive listening. The 
Gospel must do one of two things, it must 
awaken antagonism or make concerned and 
seeking. When antagonism develops it is a 
hopueful sign. So w^hen we asked the patients 
one day, whether they were tired and would 
have the reading cease, one of them, not the 
easiest to handle by far, said : "It is a long time 



118 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

yet before sundown." It now being about 
11 A. M,, I went on for a while longer. Grunts 
from time to time showed their interest. 

Several instances could be given of hopeful or 
positive results of this phase of the hospital 
work. Not many months ago a middle-aged 
woman came to be treated. She remained soine 
time. One day, after the story was told, she 
said : "I know that story, and I believe it." We 
asked her where she had heard it. She had a 
child at the Fort Defiance school, and he had 
told her the Bible stories taught by Rev. H. A. 
Clark. We had a talk with her. After a time it 
was noticed that she took a walk every morning 
and always disappeared in the shrubbery near 
our home. Upon being questioned about this, 
she replied: "I go out there every morning 
and pray to Jesus." Her tone and face gave one 
the impression of honesty and spirituality. 

A few months ago a mother left the hospital 
to visit her people. While at home she relapsed. 
Death was near. Realizing it, she told her rela- 
tives that she was not at all afraid of death. 
Upon their expressing surprise at this and ask- 
ing the reason, her answer was: "They took 
care of me at the hospital and told me that Jesus 
came to save just such sinners as I. Now I am not 
afraid of death. Soon I shall die, but I am 
saved." Two days later she departed to be with 
Jesus. 

In faith we have the assurance that many a 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 119 

patient has gone forth from here with a heart re- 
newed by the Spirit, or has been carried forth to 
burial for whom Jesus here became the resur- 
rection and the Hfe. And greater results may be 
expected as the work is properly provided for 
and expands. The money invested in that hos- 
pital is a gilt-edge investment. It should be 
materially increased, the equipment should be 
added to, and that quickly. The larger the pro- 
vision the more extensive and important the 
service. By putting the hospital there our 
Church promised the Navaho adequate service. 
May she keep her word, 

Rehoboth has Navaho visitors at times, men 
and women, who come in from camj)s far and 
near to visit the children, contract for or sell 
mutton or beef, advise with the missionary and 
the like. On the whole it is a pleasure to have 
them come and stay a bit, for it gives an oppor- 
tunity to reach them with the Gospel. They 
camp in a hogan, or in our basement, or in one 
of the dormitories, or out-of-doors. As chance 
can be found we look in on them. Sometimes 
there is a preaching of the Word by one of us, 
if an interpreter is at hand. Had we a goodly 
sized kin more could, no doubt, be done in the 
same time and more satisfactorily. Perhaps one 
will be provided some day. Occasionally we 
can induce them to go with us to the hospital 
when we go for a meeting with the patients. Not 
many leave without hearing the Message read or 



120 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

spoken to them. But it will happen that they 
are here for so short and at such a time, that 
we do not see them. 

The number of visitors does not increase in 
proportion to the larger number of pupils. Older 
friends are dying. Those younger do not all take 
the interest these did. Some parents live a great 
ways off. We have invited and urged repeatedly 
that those near should come over on Lord's Days 
and listen to the Word in their own tongue. But 
it is practically of no avail. We could have regu- 
lar Sabbath Day services for them, if they 
would. But we'll not give up. The field mis- 
sionary is now assuring them a lunch of crackers 
and coffee at noon, if they will come. This may 
draw them eventually. They do not like the 
trip without anything to eat connected with it. 
And one cannot blame them either. 

To some this local work may seem insignifi- 
cant and time-robbing. Well — it does cost quite 
some time, that is true. It mighi. be tliought too 
small to sit down with one, or two, by a little 
fire or in the hogan or elsewhere and read to 
them a portion of the Word, the more so since 
they understand so little of our reading at times. 
Perhaps it looks useless for two men, a mission- 
ary and an interpreter, to spend the time with 
one man, or one woman, preaching to him or her. 
We have been asked: "Now honestly, does it 
pay?" But whether it pays or not, the Lord in- 
cluded the Navaho in His Commission, although 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 121 

many christians do not figure with these heatlien 
for generations right at our door. The Churches 
have gone over seas, but have neglected the soul 
perishing in the shadow of the building they 
worship in. Moreover, a soul saved is a rich 
fruit for eternity. And, such a soul is apt not to 
stand alone. A convert is one of a circle of rela- 
tives, one of a clan, member of the nation. Who 
knows the influence which may go out from 
him upon his connections and associates? He 
may be a means in God's gracious hands for the 
conversion of many to Jesus and the true re- 
ligion. The woman at Jacob's well was but one, 
a woman, and a sinful one at that. Behold, what 
results were obtained thru her believing and 
making Jesus known to her city. Let our Church 
continue to properly take care of this work, let 
her abound in prayer and supplication for con- 
versions, and the Holy Spirit will honor her 
faith, her sowing will produce large reaping in 
the day of the harvest and ingathering. 



122 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

VI. 
CROWN POINT, NEW MEXICO 

TO OBTAIN an accurate conception of what 
the Government is doing as to service for 
her Navaho wards and as to education for their 
children, it will be necessary, first of all, to 
speak about the several divisions into which the 
Navaho country is divided. These various divi- 
sions are called jurisdictions, or are designated 
as Agencies, for, the Government representative 
who is in charge is known as the Agent. Accord- 
ing to a report made some years ago by our Mis- 
sionaries, there are six distinct Agencies. 

(1) The Pueblo Bonito Agency, headquarters 
at Crawn Point, includes the far eastern section 
of the Reservation, and all the Navahoes who 
have received allotinents east of the Reserva- 
tion proper. This district extends from far to the 
south of the Santa Fe Railroad to the San Juan 
River. 

(2) The Navaho Agency, headquarters at 
Fort Defiance, includes all the territory from 
the line of the Pueblo Bonito Agency westward 
to the Hopi Reservation, and northward to the 
vicinity of Two Grey Hills. 

(3) The San Juan Agency, headquarters at 
Shiprock, lies to the north of the Navaho 



»IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 123 

Agency, and extends to the northern line of the 
Reservation. 

(4) The Hopi Agency, lieadquarters at 
Ream's Canyon, inckides the entire Hopi tribe, 
and since more tlian half of their Reservation is 
occupied by Navahoes, these are also subject to 
the same Agent. There was some talk a few 
years ago to create a separate Agency for these 
Navahoes, which was to be called the Black 
Mountain Agency. We have not heard, how- 
ever, that this has been done, and therefore sur- 
mise that these Navahoes and Hopis still share a 
joint Agency. 

(5) The Western Navaho Agency, headquar- 
ters at Tuba, extends westward from the Hopi 
Agency to the Grand Canyon and northward 
into Utah. 

(6) The Navaho Extension Agency, head- 
quarters at Leupp, lies south of the Hopi Agenc3\ 

We should also mention the fact that about 
two hundred Navahoes, living far beyond the 
boundaries of their Reservation, are under the 
supervision of the Indian Agent at Albuquerque. 

At the headquarters of each Agency, and at a 
few other places within the jurisdiction of some 
of the Agencies, Boarding Schools have been es- 
tablished, where all the way from eighty to three 
or four hundred boys and girls are educated. 
Day schools have also been established here 
and there among the Navahoes, but in general 



124 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

they have not proven very successful, undoubt- 
edly due to a great extent at least, to the nomadic 
life of these people. 

It might be well also to mention here how the 
Christian Church is represented on the Navaho 
Reservation. At the Pueblo Bonito Agency w^e 
find the Christian Reformed Church represented 
at Crown Point. On the Navaho Agency the 
Presbyterians are found at Fort Defiance and 
Ganado, and the Christian Reformed at To- 
hatchi. On the San Juan Agency, the Presby- 
terians at Liberty, near Shiprock, and in the 
Carizzo Mountains; the Christian Reformed at 
Toadlena. On the Hopi Agency a Baptist mis- 
sionary at Ream's Canyon is seeking to reach the 
Hopis, but there is no one looking after the Nava- 
hoes. On the Western Navaho Agency the Pres- 
byterians are located at Tuba. On the Navaho 
Extension Agency the same Church is laboring 
at Leupp and Tolchaco. 

Crown Point, as we learn from the above, is 
therefore the Agency headquarters of the Pueblo 
Bonito jurisdiction. This site was chosen by the 
present Superintendent, Mr. S. F. Stacher. He 
not only selected the site, but also evolved the 
plan for the whole institution, and under his 
vigilant supervision all the buildings have been 
constructed, in w^hich w^ork the Indians were 
employed as much as possible. It is admitted by 
all who have cognizance of the facts, that this 
Agency has a record second to none in the entire 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 125 

Indian Service, and it still has a most promising 
future as to growth and development. 

It will undoubtedly surprise all, not familiar 
with conditions among the Indians of the desert, 
to learn that within an area of six thousand 
square miles occupied by the Navahoes of the 
Pueblo Bonito Agency, there is not a single living 
stream, and consequently the water supplj^ for 
stock and domestic purposes has always been a 
source of anxiety. This condition Supt. Stacher 
is striving hard to overcome or remedy by the 
drilling of artesian wells which give a permanent 
supply of water. Where possible, it is proposed 
to impound the surplus flow of these wells for 
irrigation purposes, and then the Indians of the 
various communities where these wells are 
found, will be given an opportunity to farm a 
small area which will supply them with prod- 
ucts that they do not now enjoy. At the Gov- 
ernment experiment farm, located some four 
miles from the Agency, it has been demonstrated 
what can be raised in the way of garden, field 
and orchard products if only a sufiicient supply 
of water can be obtained. 

The pride of the Crown Point Boarding School 
is the Navaho band which first attained its splen- 
did efficiency under Bandmaster Jacob C. Mor- 
gan, himself a Navaho. Mr. Morgan, at different 
times employed in our Mission at Tohatchi and 
Rehoboth, is one of the best cornetists in the 
Southwest. 



126 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

At this Agency our Church was represented 
from the time the School was opened. The first 
to represent the Church in the occupation of tliis 
field was the Rev. D. H. Muyskens and wife, who 
tabernacled during his brief sojourn in a shack. 
His successor was the Rev. Jacob Bolt, who, with 
his wife, were sent forth to this Mission by the 
Holland churches of Paterson, N. J. They began 
their labors in 1915, and have since not only wit- 
nessed many changes in their surroundings, as 
the marvelous development of the School and 
Agency, but have also been gladdened by seeing 
that the Lord of the Harvest was with them and 
blessing their efforts, not only among the Nav- 
aho children at the school, among whom they 
were primarily sent to work, but also among the 
whites at the Agency, who thoroly appreciate 
and are thankful for the ministry of the Gospel 
as exercised by Rev. Bolt, who before entering 
upon this service, was considered one of the 
most precise and definite expounders of the 
Word among the ministers of the home 
churches. His ministry in various churches of 
the denomination, which he now represents in 
the Indian Mission service, will not be forgotten 
as long as they live who were recipients of it. 
But, what especially gave these sincere and con- 
scientious workers at the front and us at home 
great joy and happiness in the soul, was that this 
spring no less than twenty young ladies and fif- 
teen young men of Navaho blood requested and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 127 

received christian baptism. Such fruit upon 
their prayers and work makes up for many of 
the things sacrificed when one is away from all 
ties of blood and friendship, and is located at a 
lonely post in the wilderness. 

The pleasant and hospitable home of Brother 
and Sister Bolt at Crown Point has often proven 
to be a haven of rest and peace to a weary pil- 
grim across that desert country, as well as to 
many another Missionary passing that way, and 
different members of the Board of Heathen Mis- 
sions sent to visit the field, have also been grate- 
ful recipients of this kind hospitality and will 
not soon forget it. How these two servants of 
the Master are doing their work among the con- 
stantly increasing number of Navaho girls and 
boys at the Government School, to whom they 
are a very father and mother, and how they are 
carrying on amid all the discouragements and 
disappointments naturally attendant upon such 
work, is all explained in the following, written 
by his at our request. 



128 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO THE NAVAHOES 
AT A GOVERNMENT SCHOOL 



REV. JACOB BOLT, Missionary at Crown Point, N. M. 

T^HE GOVERNMENT maintains Boarding 
■*■ Schools for the education of the Navaho In- 
dian youth. As to the number of these schools 
on the Reservation suffice it to say that they are 
not adequate to the number of children of school 
age. The great majority must forego an edu- 
cation, by reason of the Government's slowness 
in providing schools. 

To these Reservation Schools the Navaho chil- 
dren come fresh from the camp. They range 
from 5 to 20 years old when taken in. The Gov- 
ernment provides their food and clothing, and 
their education covers the lower grades, besides 
a little manual training. For the higher grades 
and trades they are sent to non-reservation 
schools, located at Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Has- 
kell Institute at Lawrence, Kans., and the Sher- 
man Institute, at Riverside, Calif. The finest op- 
portunity to obtain a thorough education, free of 
charge, is offered the Navaho boy and girl. But 
the Indian is slow to appreciate the value of an 
education, and very few take all they can get, or 
appreciate what they get. On the whole, the 
Indian is contented with his lot, and he fails to 
see where the White Man's way is superior to 
his, and he has seen so much of the White Man's 
ways that discounts their claim to superiority,. 



IN.HOGAN AND PUEBLO 129 

that we can hardly blame him for refusing to be 
2)olliited by the \Yhite Man's education. Educa- 
tion without the Gospel has proven more of a 
curse than a blessing in many a case. The great 
need of the Navaho as well as of any other 
people is the Gospel of Christ. And it is the duty 
of the Church to give him the Gospel. 

At these Government Schools the Church has 
a splendid opportunity to bring the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus to the Navaho youth. Time is 
allowed for religious instruction. And our 
churches have taken advantage of this oppor- 
tunity and have a Missionary at three Govern- 
ment Schools for the Navahoes, at Toadlena, To- 
hatchi, and Crown Point, and also at the Gov- 
ernment School for the Zuni Indians at Black 
Bock. 

During week days we are allowed certain 
hours to instruct the children, and on Sunday 
we have Sunday school in the morning and an 
Evening Service, attended by pupils and em- 
ployees. Besides these fixed hours, we have the 
privilege of mingling with the pupils and visit- 
ing them in the dormitories, which gives us an 
opportunity for closer contact and personal 
work. In some instances, at least, this is per- 
mitted, even encouraged, though at other places 
it is looked at askance, or directly prohibited. 
Much depends upon the local authorities and 
employees their inclination or disinclination to 
the Christian Beligion acting either as an en- 



130 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

couragement or raising a positive barrier to 
religious work. 

Besides talking to them, another factor in giv- 
ing the pupils a knowledge of the way of salva- 
tion is the distribution of Bibles, Hymn Books, 
and other Christian literature. 

The Navahoes are a religious people, albeit 
their religion is false. They have a sense of un- 
seen, spiritual realities influencing their lives. 
Their Medicine-man is priest as well as phy- 
sician. This religious sense is inbred, and in the 
small children it soon asserts itself in all man- 
ner of superstition. This offers a point of con- 
tact, altho it does not predispose them in favor 
of the christian religion. Yet we have found 
the pupils interested listeners when telling them 
the stories of the Bible, and especially the won- 
derful story of the Savior who came and died 
for us. Of course, more is needed to make them 
true believers in Jesus than merely learning the 
Bible lessons. But faith cometh by hearing, and 
hearing by the Word of God. And we have seen 
such a remarkable acceptance of the truth con- 
cerning Jesus, that we cannot but ascribe it to 
the gracious work of the Spirit of God. The 
bringing of the Gospel at a Government School 
has borne fruit. Let those who are taking to 
heart this work rest assured, that their labors, 
and prayers, and gifts are not in vain in the 
Lord. You will meet in heaven many who 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 131 

learned to know and love the Savior at a Gov- 
ernment School. 

The work at a Government School is as easy 
as anywhere else. And it is just as difficult as 
everywhere. Just as easy, because we are not 
alone, not thrown upon our own resources and 
strength, but the living, all-powerful Saviour is 
with us. We are workers together with God. 
And just as difficult as elsewhere, because 
wherever the work of Christ is being done, the 
devil is sure to oppose. Where Christ builds 
His Church, the gates of hell make warfare. 

Let us carry on. It is the Master's command. 
It is His work, and that can never fail. We may 
be called upon patiently to wait for tangible 
fruits. But if we faint not, we shall see and be 
satisfied. We see today evidence of the power 
of the Gospel. There is a hunger and thirst to 
know more about Jesus. It is inspiring to see a 
great number of pupils at Crown Point eagerly 
drink in our words as we talk to them about the 
Saviour. A large number has been begging for 
baptism for a year. They insist that they believe 
in Jesus and are God's children. 

The bringing of the Gospel at the school does 
not end here. The children carry the news 
home. They assure us that they tell their par- 
ents. The>\ have come to us, saying: "My 
mother and my father believe. They say, learn 
all you can about it, and tell us." Another one 
said: "I dreamt that Jesus was coming for me. 



132 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

And then I awoke, and I said: O Jesus, wait a 
little while until I tell my father." Their thoughts 
are coccupied with Jesus and His salvation. And 
they have a desire to tell others. The hope of 
the future are the children, and the hope of the 
children is Christ. 

What shall the harvest be? Glorious, far ex- 
ceeding our wildest expectations. It may seem 
in vain at times to those who think the Navahoes 
ought by this time to be erecting costly church 
buildings and discarding their blankets for seal- 
skin coats. But the Kingdom of God does not 
come immediately with outward show. And of- 
ten where there is most outward show, there is 
least spiritual life. We who listen to the talk of 
these Navaho children thank Goci and take cour- 
age. Jesus is real to them. And they talk to 
Him. Have you ever talked to Jesus about these 
young Navaho christians? Do you realize that 
they have a hard battle to fight? Rather than 
criticize, pray, pray, pray. And prayer will be 
answered, 't was answered for you. Where 
there is much prayer, we may expect much fruit 
upon our work of bringing the Gospel to the 
Navaho at a Government School. Let us plant 
and water, work and pray, and God will give 
the increase. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 133 



VII. 

A PIONEER MISSIONARY TO THE NAVAHO 
INDIANS 

THE VERY NAME "pioneer" is a word to con- 
jure with, for it has a certain attraction for 
every one who has red blood in his veins. The 
hearts of all our young Americans can easily be 
stirred and thrilled by telling them the stories of 
their pioneer fathers and mothers. It is simply 
impossible to find a real boy in our homes who 
does not absorb the tales of dauntless courage 
and true heroism with which the history of our 
country is packed. The Pilgrim Fathers of old 
New England have simply been idolized by 
many during the past year, when we commem- 
orated the Ter-centenary of their coming to the 
bleak and inhospitable shores of our Western 
Hemisphere. Our Holland Pilgrim Fathers, who 
left their native land because of religious per- 
secution and came to the land of the free and 
the brave, who settled in the virgin forests of 
Michigan, are indeed true heroes in the eyes of 
their children and their children's children be- 
cause of the hardships endured and the courage 
of faith displayed. Becoming older in years and 
riper in the experiences of life, we realize that 
it certainly does take real men and women to do 
the "pioneering" in any sphere or labor of life. 



134 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

The History of Christian Missions, thruout the 
ages, is therefore also replete with the daring 
undertakings and the marvelous successes of the 
Pioneer Missionaries who were the first to enter 
a new field, sometimes blazing a trail where no 
white man or woman had gone before, sur- 
mounting valiantly in the faith all the obstacles 
and difficulties encountered upon the way. 

Thus, as a Church, we must recognize the Rev. 
Leonard P. Brink, popularly known to all the 
ministers, and to most of the members of our 
Church from coast to coast as "L. P.," as the Pio- 
neer Missionary to the Navahoes. Since the 
Rev. H. Fryling no longer labors among the Nav- 
ahoes, but is holding the fort and fighting the 
fight at Zuni, Rev. Brink is the longest in the 
service of any of our present force. It was in the 
year 1900, after graduating from the Seminary at 
Grand Rapids, Michigan, that he and Mrs. Brink 
left relatives and friends to enter upon the work 
at Tbhatchi, which was then still in its infancy. 

No one, unless he has personal experience, can 
know what it means to come to work among a 
people whom he cannot understand and who in 
turn do not understand him. When you read 
the following, kindly written by Brother Brink 
at our request for this book, you will notice 
that he refrains from telling about these ex- 
periences. How we would like to know the 
workings of a mind and the emotions of a heart 
under such trying circumstances! We surmise. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 135 

however, that it would be hke uncovering the 
tenderest feelings of the soul to tell these things, 
and therefore we may not expect it. 

One of the very first things that faced him, af- 
ter getting settled in the little Mission Manse at 
Tohatchi, was one of the most extensive and 
difficult languages of which he did not under- 
stand a word, and what was still worse, of which, 
if we are informed correctly, there was not a 
word in print to assist him in getting a start. It 
simply had to be learned and mastered by pick- 
ing it up as it was spoken by those with whom he 
came in contact. By untiring perseverance he 
conquered and began to speak the language so 
well and so fluently that the Navahoes began to 
refer to him as "the man who talks like an In- 
dian." He did not only learn to talk, however, 
but with the help of a trusted interpreter, Ed- 
ward Becenti, he began the difficult task of 
translating portions of the Holy Scriptures into 
Navaho. In this work he experienced what 
every fellow-misisonary has experienced when 
setting himself to the same task, namely, that 
certain words, to express spiritual things con- 
tained in the Bible, were not found in the Nav- 
aho vocabulary. New Navaho words had to be 
coined, therefore, and, of course, such words as 
would convey the correct meaning of the scrip- 
ture passage to the mind of the Indian groping 
in ignorance and superstition concerning truly 
spiritual matters. No one will deny that this 



136 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

is surely one of the most difficult tasks that any 
man can undertake. After months, yea years, 
of painstaking translating and revising, again 
and again, the first portions, considered to be the 
most necessary for immediate use to bring the 
Gospel to the Navahoes in their homes, were 
prepared, and in 1910 he saw his etforts re- 
warded by the publication of God Bi Zad. 
Gdesziz Inda Mark (Genesis and Mark) in Nav- 
aho. It was published by the American Bible 
Society, which has as its purpose the translation, 
publication, and circulation of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, without note or comment, in all languages 
and in all lands. He was also instrumental in 
giving to the younger Navahoes the first Chris- 
tian Hymns in their own language. 

From 1900 to 1913 the Rev. L. P and his wife 
labored at Tohatchi, and their work was not in 
vain in the Lord. In addition to his work of 
translating and writing, to which we have re- 
ferred above, he taught the children at the Gov- 
ernment Boarding School during the week and 
on the Lord's Day. As fruit upon this work, 
many believed the Gospel message delivered, ac- 
cepted Christ Jesus as Savior, requested and re- 
ceived christian baptism. In one single year no 
less than thirty-five were added to the Church. 

Another work that was begun at Tohatchi 
was the training of young men to become work- 
ers in the Gospel among their own people. For 
more than two years there were three students 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 137 

in a Training School for Native Workers that 
was estabhshed under tlie supervision of the Mis- 
sionary, who also taught them to read the Word 
of God in their own language as well as in some 
branches of Theology, while they were in- 
structed in the higher academical branches, first 
by Jacob C. Morgan, and aftewards by Miss Car- 
rie Ten Houten and Rev. D. H. Muyskens. If this 
work had been continued, it is not at all unlikely 
that today we might have had at least one or 
two ordained Native Missionaries, but difference 
of opinion with respect to this school and its 
further development led, first to its transfer from 
Tohatchi to Rehoboth, when Rev. Brink was 
compelled because of sickness to abandon the 
field for a time, and after another year it was 
discontinued, mostly because of the lack of 
unanimity in regard to the character this Train- 
ing School should assume. The last decision in 
this matter, after a Union School with the Pres- 
byterians failed to materialize, has been to re- 
open it at Rehoboth with the two Brinks, Rev. 
L. P. and Rev. J. W., to have charge of the in- 
struction. No scholars or students being avail- 
able, this latest decision has not been carried out. 
Personally it seems to us that such a school 
should rather be located in such a district where 
to a great extent it might become a self-support- 
ing institution. We are thinking of a location in 
the neighborhood of Farmington, where it would 
be possible to raise all the necessary vegetables 



138 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

for the table, etc., and where it would be possible 
for the attending students in different w^ays to 
earn something toward their tuition. This is, in 
our estimation, one of the greatest problems for 
the Church to settle at this time. The whole fu- 
ture of our Mission to the Indians will depend in 
the future upon well and correctly trained 
native workers. 

At the time when these three young men, Paul 
Jones, Hugh Dcnitdele, and James Becenti, were 
in training at Tohatchi, a printing-press was 
also set up and operated. Different portions of 
the Scriptures and other religious literature, 
translated or wTitten by the Missionary, was set 
up and printed on this press by the boys. It was 
in 1913 that Rev. Brink was taken sick and fin- 
ally forced to leave the field. He went to Cali- 
fornia and spent somewhat more than a year in 
Home Mission work among our own people who 
were beginning to settle in this State in ever- 
increasing numbers. During this stay in beauti- 
ful California Brother Brink regained his own 
health, but the Lord took unto Himself the help- 
meet of His servant and left him and his chil- 
dren to mourn the loss of one who had been their 
help and support during all the trials and disap- 
pointments. When he returned to the Indian 
field with his motherless children, his former 
place was occupied, so the three churches of 
Roseland, Chicago, Illinois, which were now sup- 
porting him as their Missionary, sent him to Two 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 139 

Grey Hills, to take up the work there, begun by 
Mrs. E. Sipe and Mr. William Mierop. After liv- 
ing here for some time, he was deprived of his 
home and many personal effects by a hurricane, 
which completely demolished the house so that 
the family was compelled to seek shelter in what 
had once been set up for a barn. At his request 
the Mission was transferred from Two Grey Hills 
to Toadlena, bringing it in the vicinity of the 
school where part of his work is found. Under 
his own supervision a new Manse and a small 
chapel-school room were erected. In the mean- 
time the Lord had also blesseo him and his 
children with another most efficient and compe- 
tent helpmeet and mother. At Toadlena they 
are most admirably located. The scenery in that 
vicinity, especially on a bright and sunny day, 
of which there are many in New Mexico, is sim- 
ply magnificent, and a superabundance of wa- 
.er gives him and his family to enjoy the prod- 
ucts of garden and orchard as no other Mission- 
ary is able to enjoy them. The Government 
School, at which he gives the children religious 
instruction, is constantly growing. At present 
some eighty children are in attendance. The 
field of the Toadlena district, as well as of that 
of the Blanco Canyon region, is being taken care 
of with the aid of two faithful assistants, Hud- 
son Bainbridgc and Hugh Denitdele, both Chris- 
tian Navahoes. Mrs. Denitdele is Fanny Becenti, 



140 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

a graduate nurse of our Rehoboth Hospital. How 
they are bringing the good tidings to the Nava- 
hoes in their hogans, is told by the Rev. Brink 
as follows : 

BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO THE HOGANS. 



REV. L. P. BRINK, Missionary at Toadlena, N. M. 

HTHE SUBJECT of this paper is a very inclusive 
•'• one, for, look at it from whatever angle you 
may, it includes all kinds of mission work, all 
forms of mission endeavor among the Navaho 
tribe of Indians, either directly or indirectly. The 
hogan is the home of the Navaho, and all the 
mission efforts we have put forth from the very 
beginning of our work among them to this day, 
has had the end in view to bring the Gospel into 
the homes of the members of this Indian tribe; 
and this purpose will not be altered in the work 
we are to put forth still in years to come. 

It makes quite a difference what you nnder- 
stand by the word "hogan." Pronounce the 
word, not as an Irish name, spelled the same 
way, but give it a genuine Dutch pronunciation, 
and you will be very close to the genuine Navaho 
pronunciation. It is a very common word 
among the Navahoes, and simply means a habi- 
tation, a place to dwell in. A Navaho dwelling 
is a Navaho hogan and a white man's dwelling 
is a white man's hogan. And furthermore in 
the Navaho language a stable is spoken of as a 



142 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

horse's or mule's or cow's hogan, a dog-kennel 
as a dog's hogan, a chicken-coop as a chicken's 
hogan, a sheep-corral as a sheep's hogan; even 
an anthill is spoken of as the ants' hogan, and 
the spider's web is the spider's hogan. 

A church is called a hogan for prayer, a school 
is called a hogan for learning; a store is called a 
hogan for goods, all kinds of goods that are sold 
in it being embraced in that term; a bank is a 
hogan for money, a drugstore is a hogan for 
medicine; a restaurant is a hogan for "eats," 
and a round-house is a hogan for railroad 
engines. 

It may be a long ways from the Navaho's most 
primitive form of human habitation to the 
grandest and most highly ornamented forms of 
modern architecture, but both of these forms, 
together with all forms and styles of human 
habitation that lie between them are hogans and 
are so called in the Navaho language. 

I take it for granted, however, that the good 
brother who suggested the subject, did not for a 
. moment think that we would use that word in 
its widest, Navaho meaning, for in that case he 
would require that we would write about bring- 
ing the Gospel to every human being on the face 
of the globe, for they all live in hogans of some 
kind or other. And let me say it with due rev- 
erence, even the Almighty lives in a hogan, for 
where the English Bible says, "In My Father's 
house are many mansions," there the Navaho 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 143 

Bible says, "In My Father's hogan there are 
many abiding-places." In the narrower sense, 
the sense in which it is used by Americans most 
commonly, it is the habitation of the Navaho 
Indian, and in that sense we are intending to use 
it in the present article. Let me tell you before- 
hand, that the Navahoes dwell in a variety of 
habitations, and that the trend of the more pro- 
gressive ones is toward better and more sani- 
tary dwellings. 

The simplest form of Navaho dwelling is a 
brush shelter, built in the form of a crescent or 
half-moon, the opening toward the east, serving 
as a door; these have no roof, and as a rule the 
walls are not over four feet high, they are usually 
built of brush, less often out of stone; they are 
usually built in an hour or two, and usually 
serve as a temporary dwelling in summer-time. 

An improvement on the brush shelter is the 
summer camp, built with a view toward cool- 
ness and shade; it is built by making a frame of 
crotched posts in the form of a square. Poles 
are laid in crotches, thus forming open rect- 
angles of the four sides and of the roof. These 
arc then closed with poles, and green branches 
of trees, or even tumble weeds, or sunflower 
stalks or anything else that happens to be handy. 
The summer camps are roomy and well venti- 
lated, but they are no protection against rain, 
and they are not used in winter. 

Tents are used a great deal by the Navahoes, 



144 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

some are bought in the store all ready-made, 
and some are made out of flour sacks. Tents are 
very convenient, because they can be taken up, 
moved to another location and put down again 
in a few moments' time; even your missionary 
lives in a tent part of the time; the Indians live 
in tents so that they can pick up and follow their 
flocks easily when grazing necessities makes it 
urgent to do so, and the missionary lives in a 
tent to follow the Navahoes, and to visit them in 
their scattered homes. Tents can be made pretty 
comfortable places to live in. Some Navahoes 
live in them the year round. 

The typical Navaho hogan is an interesting 
piece of architecture; if you will take a rather 
oval-shaped orange, cut it into halves crosswise, 
and place both halves on the table, flat side 
down, you have the typical shape of two regular 
Navaho hogans. They are built out of stone or 
logs, whichever happens to be the nearest at 
hand; when built of stone they are more round; 
when built of logs they are more of an octagon 
shape. The inside is one round room, sometimes 
they are not over ten feet in diameter, some- 
times they are thirty; some are very well built 
and some are poorly constructed; the absence of 
floors and furniture is what strikes the tender- 
foot most in entering them ; fire is in the middle 
of the room, and usually it is an open fire, some- 
times it is a stove. There is an opening about 
four feet in diameter in the roof, just above the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 145 

fire. The door is usually toward the east, and 
there are no windows in the hogan; the floor is 
earthen, sheepskins, tanned with the wool left 
on, are used for seats and beds, and there are 
blankets for covering at night. The hogan is a 
warm building, it is also well ventilated and is 
not draughty; before winter comes the outside 
is well-packed with earth. It is in many respects 
a very sensible kind of dwelling, and there has 
been many a day in my missionary life when a 
Navaho hogan, whether occupied or not, w^as a 
more than welcome sight. 

Then there are log houses built in the shape 
of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and stone houses built in 
the same shape, sometimes with more than one 
room; most of these are poorly ventilated, and 
on that account are no improvement over the 
regular hogan; they are built wdth fireplaces, 
and that is a help for ventilation, but the win- 
dow's are small and stationary', and in cold 
weather the door is not open a great deal; they 
are too close and stuffy. 

Modern houses are few, but there are some, 
and there are those who have the ambition to 
build more and better; in fact, in the last 
twenty years there is a great deal of improve- 
ment to be noticed. 

Another thing to be noticed is that the hogans 
are widely scattered over a large, very extensive 
territory; the whole Navaho country is fully 
as large as the State of Pennsylvania, and the 



146 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

population of this immense district is not over 
30,000 all told. 

One thing that seems strange to a great many 
white people is that the Navahoes do not as a 
rule build their houses alongside of the road, 
like we are used to doing, in fact the impression 
is often made that the Indians prefer to hide 
their dwellings from the gaze of passersby. 
Again I must remind you of the fact that this is 
the tenderfoot's impression. We should bear in 
mind that in the Navaho country the roads are 
not built on section lines, and the country is not 
laid out in beautiful farms, and that mail is not 
delivered from house to house. The land as a 
whole is not tillable, only in certain favored lo- 
cations. The permanent homes of the Nava- 
hoes are not usually seen from the roads, so that 
travelers going thru often think there are no 
people there. When the fact is that they do not 
know where to look for them. The Navaho 
country is a very windy country, and the homes 
of the Indians are mostly found in sheltered lo- 
cations, where they are protected by mountains 
and hills and rocks and ridges against the cold, 
chilling winds. And as these winds come mostly 
from the west, you will see that this has been 
reckoned with in the location of a building site, 
and even in the construction of the hogan itself. 
The door of the hogan is almost invariably to- 
ward the east, and never toward the west. And 
even a missionary, if he is wise, when he builds 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO i47 

his home, will see to it that it has no doors and as 
few windows as possible toward the west. Their 
building their doors toward the east may have 
some superstition about it, but after all, it is 
good common sense at the same time. 

Oftentimes one will find a bunch of hogans 
together; they usually belong to the members of 
one family; the daughters get married and 
usually their husbands come to live near where 
the bride's mother lives. There is a queer sup- 
erstition, gradually disappearing, that if a son- 
in-law gets to see his mother-in-law she will be- 
come blind, and so it happens that sons-in-law 
are not on too intimate terms with their mothers- 
in-law and vice versa. 

The inmates of the hogan are very much like 
the inmates of all other kinds of dwellings, 
father and mother and children, sometimes a 
grandparent or two, and as a rule they are very 
hospitable. I do not know that I ever was 
treated as an intruder when I came to visit them. 

An evil that is gradually but slowly disappear- 
ing from their family life is polygamy; our Uncle 
Sam has a hand in this, and our missionaries are 
steadily working against this evil; under wise 
guidance it ought to be rooted out soon. Sui- 
cides are very uncommon among this people, 
and all that have come under my notice were 
due to polygamy. Indians are beginning to rec- 
ognize it as wrong themselves. 

The religious life of the inmates of the hogans 



148 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

is a subject on which very much could bo said; 
much more than our present space would allow. 
The Navahoes are a very religious people; 
prayers and prayer songs among them are not 
a few. It is very necessary for a missionary to 
know a good deal about their own religion, in 
fact, one cannot know nor understand the Nav- 
ahoes u.iless they know their religion, for they 
look at nearly all things in life from a religious 
standpoint. Their religion is a false religion, 
yet it is not without elements of divine truth. On 
the whole one must say that their religion is 
polytheistic, they believe in multitudinous gods, 
in gods visible and invisible; they have tradi- 
tions and legends innumerable; but they know 
not the God of Love who sent His Son to be the 
Saviour of the world; the hogans are without 
the knowledge of the only true and living God, 
without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and with- 
out the Word of God; and hence it is that we 
missionaries have as our appointed task to bring 
the Gospel of salvation to the hogans. 

Let me tell you, first of all, that it is brought 
there in many different ways, and that as the 
Lord in His Providence opens the doors of ap- 
proach, we enter them. I can best tell you what 
I mean by this by looking over the beginnings 
of our work. The great missionary, Paul, used 
good policy in his work by entering first into the 
synagogue of the Jews to preach the Gospel there 
first of all, and from there to expand into wider 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 149 

activities. We were pretty much compelled to 
follow in his footsteps. 

When we first came we did not know the lan- 
guage of the Indians, and the Indians could not 
understand our language; plainly it was our 
duty to learn their language, and we set ahout it 
as soon as we could. That was preparatory to 
bringing the Gospel to the hogans; we have often 
begrudged the many hours and days that we had 
to spend in dry language study, but it was nec- 
essary. At the same time there was an open 
door for us : the United States Government had 
established Boarding Schools among the Nav- 
ahoes, and we were given the privilege of giving 
religious instruction to the pupils of these 
schools. We rejoiced in the privilege, and thru 
this method of preaching the Gospel, just as soon 
as we saw an opened door, we had our chance to 
do our first religious work. And in course of 
time it has met with most encouraging results, 
and many a time the pupils in their vacation 
time brought home to their parents the message 
that had been taught them in Sunday school and 
catechism classes. They were a preparation for 
the Gospel to the hogans, in fact, it was thru 
their instrumentality that the name of the 
Blessed Saviour was first brought to the hogans. 
It was often thru the acquaintance of these pu- 
pils with the missionaries that the missionaries 
were accorded a welcome when they came to the 
Indian hogans. 



150 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

There were on the Reservation always a few 
educated Indians; they were but a very small 
per cent of the tribe, and their education as a 
rule was but a very small per cent of what it 
ought to be; but naturally the missionary came 
into contact with these first of all, because he 
could converse with them more or less, and give 
them some kind of an idea of what he was 
among them for. Here was another door stand- 
ing a little ajar, and it was entered as oppor- 
tunity offered. Some of- the Indians who are 
prominent in our work today have come into 
contact with our mission work in just that way, 
such as Edward Becenti and Jacob C. Morgan 
and Hudson Bainbridge; men who in many ways 
have been and are a credit and a great help to 
us in our work. 

One matter of far-reaching importance result- 
ing directly from work in this line, was that it 
brought us into contact with young men who 
could serve as interpreters. Our first way of 
bringing the Gospel to the hogans where English 
was not understood, was thru interpreters. It 
may not be an ideal way of preaching the Gos- 
pel thru an interrupter, as it has often been fitly 
called, but it is the only way in which many of 
our missionaries can talk to the Navahoes at all. 
In fact, a good christian interpreter is always 
the missionary's right hand man. 

The first Indian reached thru the interpreter 
is usually the interpreter himself. This is self- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 151 

evident, because he would be with the mission- 
ary continually, would hear the missionary day 
by day, whether he were alone with him oi- 
whether he were talking for him to other Indians, 
and the message of the Gospel would of neces- 
sity become clear and plainer to him than to any 
one else, and in my experience it happened that 
even before any of the members of my catechism 
classes applied for baptism, my interpreter was 
the very first Navaho that asked to be baptized; 
but soon after him, many of the pupils asked to 
be baptized. I am very glad to say that my first 
adult convert is still a missionary's interpreter, 
and is able to bring the Gospel message now bet- 
ter than ever. 

The interpreter, being won for Christ, brought 
the Gospel into his hogan; shortly after his own 
baptism he requested baptism for his little chil- 
dren, and slowly his wife, wdio had no school 
education whatever, was won by the Gospel; so 
here was a case where the Gospel was brought to 
a hogan, and the Navaho's dwelling became a 
Christian home. Was there anything that could 
delight a missionary more than to see how the 
christian family life was begun by this family of 
Navahoes, and how the children of the family 
wx^re baptized in turn, how Christian education 
was sought and provided for them when they 
became of school age; and also to see that when 
the Lord saw fit to take one of the little ones 
home, the parents could say with Job of old : 



152 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

"The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken, 
and blessed be the Name of the Lord." When 
missionary and interpreter can work together as 
brethren in the Lord, both intent on bringing the 
Gospel into the hogans of the Indians, traveling 
for miles and miles thru the wide stretches of 
the Navaho country, bringing the message wher- 
ever opportunity offers, many hardships become 
pleasures. 

And in the course of their work, the Missionary 
becomes better acquainted with the Navaho day 
by day, both with Navaho language and char- 
acter, and with the Navaho way of looking at 
things ; all of these things make him fitter for his 
task, and at the same time the interpreter learns 
his English better, and obtains better and clearer 
ideas on the christian religion, and becomes bet- 
ter equipped to present the message in accept- 
able terms. 

I have never been satisfied to have my inter- 
preter be nothing at all but an interpreter, to do 
nothing but just to tell over again whatever I 
told him to say and to tell over again to me 
whatever an Indian wanted him to tell me, work- 
ing thru interpreters has always been a regular 
training school for me, and I have always aimed 
to make their work a regular training school 
for them, in order to equip them better for their 
work right along. I do not see how any mis- 
sionary could be satisfied to do otherwise. 

In order to make this scheme a success a mis- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 153 

sionary must be very careful in his choice of 
young men for this work, and it is very poor 
pohcy to change off interpreters unless it is ab- 
solutely necessary. 

In the beginnings of our work there were no 
christian interpreters, the best we could do was 
to pick out such young men as we could get, who 
had the best educational equipment for inter- 
preting, and it was not at all unusual for an in- 
terpreter to say in the course of his interpreta- 
tion: "this is what the missionary says, but I 
do not believe a bit of it myself." 

At present all of our interpreters are sincere 
christian young men, whose hearts are in the 
work, and who are not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ. And their homes are Christian homes, 
examples of the result of bringing the Gospel 
to the hogans. 

A matter that causes a missionary much grief, 
is when a christian young man marries a young 
woman who is not a christian, or when a chris- 
tian young women marries a man who is not a 
christian. The results of being unequally yoked 
with unbelievers will soon show up, and the 
christian life will suffer, if indeed it will not 
seem to be completely eclipsed. Yet there are 
examples where the believing husband has been 
the instrument in the Lord's hand to bring the 
unbeheving wife to the Saviour, and even of the 
believing wife being the means the Lord used to 
bring her unbelieving husband to Him. We can- 



154 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

not always know what is wdse; on general prin- 
ciples I never advise a believer to marry an un- 
believer, but there is a case on record among us 
where a missionary vigorously protested against 
a christian young man marrying an uneducated 
and unchristian young women, where the pro- 
test Avas not heeded, and the young woman soon 
became interested in the ways of the Lord and 
requested baptism, and is now living a faithful 
christian life. 

Now just imagine that you are going with me 
on a trip to bring the Gospel to the hogans. I 
will try to give you a clear idea of how the Gos- 
pel is brought there. With my interpreter I ar- 
rive at a Navaho hogan, the dogs usually an- 
nouncing our coming. We walk up to the door, 
greet the members of the family and are seated. 
We tell them that we are on a friendly visit and 
would like to talk with them a little while. They 
will naturally ask wiio we are, and where we 
are from. We may have brought a chart with us 
and likely a Navaho bible. It is usually easy to 
begin our conversation by talking about the 
things that happened in the beginning, about the 
creation of the world and of man, and then 
about the Fall and its dire results for the world 
and the human race, white people and Indians 
included, and then to come to the story of the 
Son of God, the Saviour, and talk about Him as 
the Saviour of all kinds of people, Navahoes in- 
cluded. We are. in no hurry, we take our time 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO ]55 

and explain as we go along. In speaking in a 
hogan we address the head of the family, others 
listen and he expresses his interest audibly 
at intervals, and once in a while he asks a ques- 
tion. We get around to talk about prayer and 
explain it in the most childlike simplicity, how 
that real prayer is not a compUcated ceremony, 
but like a child talking to its father or mother, 
and the loving-kindness of the heavenly Father 
in Hstening to our petitions. We encourage in- 
terested listeners in asking questions, and we 
close our little meeting by asking our host 
whether it pleases him that one of our number 
offer prayer in his hogan before we depart. He 
agrees, at least I have never yet seen a case 
where he did not, and then the first Christian 
prayer ever offered in this hogan is brought be- 
fore the throne of grace. This scheme of bring- 
ing the Gospel is a marvel of simplicity and 
adaptabiUty, and we almost invariably follow it 
in our first visit to bring the Gospel to the hogan. 
Usually we are requested to call again and we 
always make it a point to do so; we also give the 
family a standing invitation to come to visit us, 
and they often make use of it. 

It will happen occasionally that we will be 
holding a meeting, and neighboring Indians will 
drop in to listen. We then have songs; if my 
wife is present she will lead the singing with 
her vioUn. We read a portion of Scripture in 
the Navaho language and have prayers and 



156 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

preaching. It matters little whether the day be 
Sunday or Monday, often we will appoint a day 
when they can expect us to come again. 

Gradually our native workers are being de- 
veloped so they can carry the message from 
hogan to hogan; the Master's method of sending 
them two by two seems to me to be the most 
preferable, as they mutually assist and encour- 
age one another. In Hudson Bainbridge and 
Hugh Denetdele I have a pair of the most trust- 
worthy laborers, who often go out together, and 
sometimes I accompany them. Their experi- 
ences are very varied and interesting, and they 
have brought the Gospel to hundreds of Indian 
hogans, and the Lord willing, they will bring it 
to hundreds more. 

A missionary who does camp-work, as bring- 
ing the Gospel to the hogans is popularly called, 
is of necessity a great traveler. Last September 
my speedometer read a little over 3,000 miles, 
while today, February 24th, it reads far over 
8,000 miles, and bear in mind that this is for the 
winter months, when not one-third of the travel- 
ing is done that is done in the summer months, 
and this does not include trips on foot or on 
horseback or with team and wagon. All of these 
methods of travel must be used in bringing the 
Gospel to the hogans. Sometimes an enormous 
amount of time is saved by going with an auto- 
mobile, and sometimes, when weather and roads 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 157 

are abominable, enormous garage bills are saved 
by traveling in old-fashioned style. 

A great help to us in our camp-work are the 
translations of Scripture w^hich we have in the 
Navaho language; they are in constant use. Bib- 
lical phraseology is a matter that confuses many 
interpreters. But with the translations on which 
years of painstaking study have been expended 
by missionaries and interpreters, our inter- 
preters who are familiar with these, have a great 
advantage over young men, however well edu- 
cated, who are not familiar with Bible expres- 
sions in Navaho dress. The Bible is full of ex- 
pressions which are not in use in the everyday 
life of the Indians, and an interpreter must know 
how to express these in his talks to his people. 
This requires preliminary training, and this 
training progresses as the mission work pro- 
gresses. Assisting the missionary in making 
translations is fine training for native workers. 
During the i>ast months I have been translating 
the Acts of the Apostles with my native assis- 
tants and it has proved to be a regular theolog- 
ical education for all of us. 

Sunday school cards and charts often find 
their way into the hogans and become interesting 
to the inmates when the story represented is 
made plain to them. In hogans where there are 
young people who have been educated, religious 
literature is introduced. And gradually Bibles 
and Testaments are introduced. 



158 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

But as the great majority of the people are il- 
literate, the mission of the written word is very 
limited, hence it is a necessity that the message 
of the spoken Word be brought everywhere. And 
as the hogans are scattered far and wide over a 
rough, barren, mountainous region, the follow- 
up visits are often few and far between. And yet 
they are necessary. We do not consider that our 
duty is done, like some missionaries do, when we 
have visited a hogan and have spoken there of 
the Saviour. It is an impossibility to make the 
message of salvation plain to people to whom its 
message is absolutely foreign in one or two con- 
versations. In many cases the w^ay the message 
was presented by missionaries is absolutely un- 
intelligible to the Indian. We cannot consider 
having fulfilled our duty as long as our brother 
or sister Indian is in the land of the living, and 
even then it is a question not to be lightly dis- 
missed whether we have been faithful to our 
trust. 

W^hether the message is accepted or rejected 
or held in consideration, we feel that in all cases 
we must bring the Gospel to the same people and 
to the same hogan over and over again. Never- 
theless we rely upon the promise that the Spirit 
will accompany and follow up the message, so 
that we can leave the results to Him. 

And we rejoice in the fact that the Gospel is 
gaining ground and making headway in the ho- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 159 

gans of those uneducated, so that ah'eady the 
firstfruits of this labor are being gathered in. 

Bringing the Gospel to the hogans calls for 
careful and prayerful preparation, constant en- 
deavor and hard work and patient endurance, 
both physically and mentally. It requires knowl- 
edge of the Indian language and character and 
religion, an appreciation of all that is deserving 
of appreciation in them, and a persistent en- 
deavor to present the message of the Saviour 
of men to them; one thing that surprises many of 
us is the persistence with which they cling to 
their own religion, and one can not help but 
think how beautiful this same characteristic will 
be when, with their hearts, they will have ac- 
cepted Christ as their Saviour. 

We have not planned in this article to give a 
detailed account of hardships and such like 
which a missionary's life among the Navahoes 
entails, about camping out and sleeping in the 
open, about sandstorms and quicksands and 
blizzards and swollen streams, about scanty 
fare oftentimes, about broken rigs and played- 
out teams, about losing our way in this great 
expanse of territory, and about multitudinous 
delays and disappointments. After all, these 
are all in the day's work when we bring the 
Gospel to the hogans. 

A soldier does not enlist in the army expect- 
ing to find a soft snap, if he has any sense at all, 
and neither should a missionary to the Navahoes 



160 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

expect such, in fact, he should expect to endure 
hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The 
hattle may be long and tiresome, but the victory 
is assured, the cause of our Lord and Master is 
going to win out in the end. Let us be of good 
courage as soldiers of the cross and keep on 
bringing the Gospel to the hogans. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 161 



VIII. 

LAY-WORKERS IN OUR INDIAN MISSION 
SERVICE 

ONLY FOR WANT of a better term to express 
what we mean, we speak of lay-workers. 
That there is great need as well as great oppor- 
tunities for such workers in the Indian Mission 
Service, is a self-evident fact. There are num- 
^erous positions at any and every well-estab- 
lished Mission for both men and women who 
for various reasons have not been able to obtain 
the necessary education and training for ordi- 
nation or professional service. These quiet, un- 
assuming, consecrated workers, to be found at 
every Mission, are the ones who are generally 
doing more for the advancement of the great 
cause than any one of us ordinarily imagines. 
Eternity alone will probably reveal what has 
been accomplished thru their humble services. 
In our work among the Navahoes and Zunies 
we also find several of these humble, ever-will- 
ing, consecrated workers. First of all we are 
reminded of the Matrons, whose work indeed 
must be trying and arduous. At Rehoboth we 
have one in charge of the boys', and one in 
charge of the girl's dormitory. They each have 
fifty children under their supervision during all 
the hours that they are not otherwise engaged. 



162 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Imagine being mother to fifty boys or girls, 
ranging in age from five or six to eighteen or 
older. Each one a different character, different 
shortcomings and failures, different desires and 
ambitions, etc. A thousand questions a day 
must be answered, a hundred and one things 
must be looked after. Are they washed, combed, 
brushed, clothes clean and whole? Have they 
studied their lessons, read the Bible and prayed, 
memorized their catechism lessons? Here are 
little difficulties between two or more that must 
be ironed out, there grave disputes have arisen 
that must be settled. Beds must be made, the 
rooms kept clean, etc., etc. And all of it must 
be done in a spirit that will point to Him, for 
Whom and for Whose cause the service is ren- 
dered. The Matron at Zuni has thirty-five chil- 
dren to look after, but these do not live with 
her in a dormitory, for the school at Zuni is not 
a boarding, but a day school, and the children 
board and lodge at home. Each Monday morn- 
ing she must be ready to give each boy and girl 
a thorough scrubbing from head to foot, for af- 
ter a week at home this is indeed more than nec- 
essary. At this weekly (not weakly) bath, they 
also shed their soiled and torn garments, ex- 
changing them for the fresh, clean and whole 
ones the Matron has ready for them. The wash- 
ing, ironing, sewing, and mending of all these 
clothes is no little task in itself, but in addition 
to that she teaches the girls how to wash and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 163 

iron, sew and nieml. During certain afternoons 
of each week she calls on all the English-speak- 
ing women of the village, reading to them and 
seeking to get them interested in their souls 
eternal welfare. Ah! these Matrons are not of- 
ten thought of, but they are doing a great work 
in humble service. 

At Rehoboth we also find a Seamstress to look 
after the sewing and mending at this post, and a 
Laundress to look after the washing and ironmg 
of School and Hospital. In doing this work they 
are helped by a detail of children, but m turn 
they are expected to instruct these children in 
doing these things, so that after graduating they 
will know how to take care of their own clothes. 
Furthermore, we find two at Rehoboth whose 
positions are designated as Housekeeper-cooks. 
They are in charge of the Mission House; here 
the several employees have their rooms; here 
you find tw^o dining-rooms, one for the em- 
ployees and one for the hundred children; here 
you also find a home-room, where the workers 
can sit or lie down for a little rest or fellowship 
between working periods, and last but not least, 
you find here the large, well-equipped kitchen, 
where these two cooks reign and prepare the 
meals for employees, children and hospital pa- 
tients. Surely you, who read this, need not envy 
any of these w^orkers, thinking that their yoke is 
easy and their burden light; but you may be 
jealous of them because their work is not simply 



164 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

humanitarian, but an opening of the way for the 
higher service of the teacher, physician, and 
preacher. All these positions, you will no doubt 
have understood, are filled by daughters of our 
Church, and we thank God that He has inclined 
their hearts unto this work. They do it out of 
love for Him or they would not do it at all. 
There is still one more lady assistant at Reho- 
both and she is the Clerk, in charge of the office 
and the correspondence. The volume of mis- 
sion business is ever on the increase, books must 
be kept systematically, records must be accurate 
and filed carefully, letters, ofFicial and private, 
must be answered. This helper is no less con- 
secrated than the others, for it has happened 
several times during her incumbency that she 
has served in the capacity of other employees 
when they were compelled to resign because of 
sickness, and their places could not immediately 
be filled. 

The male employees at Rehoboth are the 
Manager and his assistants, of whom we will not 
speak at this time, seeing we will meet them in 
the Chapter on Industrial Missions. But other 
lay-workers are the unordained men, with their 
interpreters, in charge of some branch of direct 
religious work. Such a one is found at Zuni in 
the capacity of boys' worker. He is the Secre- 
tary of the Zuni Indian Y. M, C. A. located at 
that post. He is also assistant to the Missionary, 
and thru correspondence, keeps in touch with 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 165 

the Zuiii boys at non-reservation schools. His 
main business, however, is to work among the 
Zuni boys who have been to school, have learned 
to speak and use the English, and having ac- 
quired some education, are back in the village 
and at home. They must be gathered in the 
reading-room where they are entertained, in- 
structed, and urged to make use of the advan- 
tages which are theirs above others who lack all 
education and training. This is a most neces- 
sary work in order to conserve and foster that 
which has already been gained. At Tohatchi 
we also find an unordained worker, who is in 
charge of all the mission work at that post, but 
seeing we have a separate Chapter on his field 
and work, we need not speak of it here. 

A most important position, filled by an unor- 
dained worker, is that of Field or Camp Mis- 
sionary at Rehoboth. This is the man who lives 
at Rehoboth, but finds his field of activity out 
among the Indians on and off the Reservation. 
That this is a most necessary, but at the same 
time hard and trying job, cannot and will not 
be gainsaid by anyone. With his interpreter he 
wanders over the Reservation, now here and 
then there; at night the great, unlimited expanse 
of territory is his hotel, the ground his bed, the 
beautiful dome of heaven his canopy, while the 
camp-meals are prepared and served by himself 
or interpreter. The only and supreme purpose 
of it all is that the Navaho, whether able to un- 



166 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

derstand English or not, living in the darkness 
of ignorance, sorrow and sin, shall hear of that 
blessed name given under heaven among men 
whereby sinners must be saved. The man, 
who occupies this position at the present time is 
Brother Mierop. His first service on the Indian 
field was rendered when he was in charge of the 
Two Grey Hills Mission. After a brief stay at 
this place, he returned to Chicago, Illinois, his 
former home, expecting to take up regular 
training for mission service. Later he resumed 
his work among the Indians, working under the 
direction of the Presbyterian Church. At pres- 
ent he lives at Rehoboth, but labors among the 
Indians of the adjacent region. That such work 
is rich in experiences, both amusing and 
pathetic, is easily understood. Intensely inter- 
esting is therefore his own story on this sub- 
ject, and we sincerely hope you will enjoy 
reading it. Brother William Mierop is a sincere, 
capable and consecrated servant of the Lord, 
and we believe he is exceptionally well-fitted 
and qualified for the work entrusted to him. 
May the Lord be with him and his assistant, sus- 
tain and protect them, as they go up and down 
the country proclaiming the Good News to the 
Navahoes, and may it be given unto them to 
bear hardships as true soldiers of the Cross. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 167 
CAMPING WITH THE NAVAHOES 

(MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES) 



I 



WILLIAM MIEROP, Camp-Worker at Rehoboth, N. M. 

T HAS BEEN SAID that if you want to punish 
any one, compel him to camp for a while. At 
first it is an innovation, but as the time goes by 
it becomes burdensome, monotonous. It has a 
sameness that weighs on one's mind, hence an 
appropriate way of meting out punishment. 

To those who have been redeemed thru the 
precious blood of the Lamb, camping with the 
Navahoes, in order to give them the Message of 
Salvation, is a rare privilege. I deem it a great 
honor to be a co-worker with the Lord, and 
count it great joy when it is necessary for me 
to be a co-sutferer with Him. 

Of course, you can readily understand that 
camping with the Navahoes incurs many diffi- 
culties and amusing incidents, apart from the 
blessed work of giving them the Gospel. I re- 
member distinctly the time I came to work 
among the Indians. I was the youngest mis- 
sionary on the field— not quite 25 years of age 
then. I thought I would do some camp-work 
to tell them about our Lord. I was pretty 
"green," I assure you. When we came to a 
hogan where a Navaho lived, I jumped out of 
the buggy and walked to this hogan. Now you 
know, I presume, that very few Navahoes have 
wooden doors, only a blanket, and when they 



168 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

want to enter, all they do is to push the blanket 
or canvas to one side and walk in. Well, I 
stood before this hogan, skinning my knuckles, 
knocking on the posts that supported the blan- 
ket. I knocked and knocked and I was wonder- 
ing why in the wide world they didn't yell, 
"Come in!" The Navahoes on their part won- 
dering who that crazy person was (for that was 
really said). If he wanted to come, why doesn't 
he push the tlap aside and walk in. Whenever 
I felt my poor bruised knuckles, I got "sore" to 
think that they would keep a man out there so 
long, and I knocked harder and harder each 
time. This was my first experience among the 
Navahoes. 

As I grew I gradually began to learn things. 
It dawned upon me that Navahoes were a dif- 
ferent class of people than the class I belonged 
to. Keeping this thought ever in mind, it saved 
me many a painful experience. Many Navahoes 
are notorious liars. Some take great pleasure 
in lying. There are many who try to be aver- 
age careful with their tongue, but the rank and 
file seem to enjoy a lie. There was one young 
Indian I met who boasted of being the biggest 
liar in that part of the country. Even his Nav- 
aho friends couldn't rely on him, and whenever 
he said anything it was taken with the pro- 
verbial grain of salt, only with him they usually 
took a pound. We had given a very strong ser- 
monette on liars and their eternal destiny in 




'Last Call for Breakfast." Eating near a "Devil's" Home 



170 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

the lake of fire. It had made an impression, we 
could see. This young Indian got up and said, 
"My friend here said a lie is bad, a liar is worse, 
because back of the lie is the devil. It is true. 
I will try to lie no more." I asked him his name 
and this is what he said, "My name is George 
Washington." Just imagine George Washing- 
ton having such a name-sake ! 

I do not want you to think that every Navaho 
is a liar. Many wdiite people tell lies, and some 
enjoy it, too. I met one man who hated a lie. 
He told me if there was anything or any one he 
hated, it was a lie and a liar. I began to have 
confidence in this Indian, and told him how glad 
I was to meet a Navaho who believed like he 
did. I asked him why he hated lies and liars, 
and then he told me to wait. There was a big 
trunk in one corner of his room. In this trunk 
he rummaged and I began to wonder what he 
was up to, when I heard him grunt. Evidently 
he got what he was looking for. Imagine my 
surprise when he came to me wearing a 
"domine's" coat in regular style, walking and 
strutting up and down his kin or house, like a 
proud turkey. He then told me he was wear- 
ing a missionary's coat, and as they never lied 
and hated liars, so he must too, for "don't I 
wear a long coat?" He couldn't lie while he 
had that kind of a coat on! 

W^hile this Indian was proud because he pos- 
sessed a preacher's coat, there are others 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 171 

equally proud who have no coat and for other 
reasons. You are acquainted, no doubt, .with 
the Navaho superstition of the son-in-law look- 
ing at his mother-in-law. If they should look at 
one another they would get blind. Sometimes 
they have to be pretty fleet of foot to escape the 
mother-in-law. Very often the children hang 
around the hogan entrance to see if the coast is 
clear. If the son-in-law is seen coming or the 
mother-in-law, there is a wild scramble and a 
tlight. One would think they would get tired of 
it, but no, it goes on day after day. They don't 
care to separate and live in another locality, so 
this superstitious fear is constantly hanging over 
their heads as Damocles sword. We met an In- 
dian one evening and slept in his house over 
night. We had given him the Sweet Story of 
Old and we felt happy. When we were thru, 
our conversation tiu'ned to the mother-in-law 
superstition and I told my friend how foolish 
it was, as many white people would be as blind 
as a bat if this fear was true. My friend got up 
and replied, "The Indians are afraid of their 
mother-in-law. Why? They don't know any- 
thing. They are like children. Here am I, a 
Navaho, a married man with lots of children. 
Here is my wife sitting alongside of me. Here 
is my mother-in-law right here, she is looking at 
me, and I am looking at her. Nothing to be 
afraid of. I am not blind and we have looked at 
each other for many years. The other Nav- 



172 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ahoes have no sense." I thought that was mighty 
fine. Oh, if only others would follow, I thought ! 
I am glad I thought it and never spoke my 
thoughts, because when I asked him how many 
wives he had, he said, "Two. This is one and 
my mother-in-law is the other!" He had fol- 
lowed the Navaho custom of "marry the mother 
you get the daughter, too." No wonder the foxy 
Indian wasn't afraid because his mother-in-law 
was his wife as well as his mother-in-law's 
daughter. 

While some try and fool you as this Navaho 
tried and almost succeeded, there are others 
who would not condescend to do such things. 
They prefer another method. Sometimes you 
can forestall them. I did it once. We were out 
many days and dead tired when we came to a 
hogan where they were holding a religious 
ceremony. Some one had had a bad dream, so 
the medicine man thought it wise to have a 
ceremony, so this bad dream wouldn't come 
true. Well, we were there, ready for an oppor- 
tunity to tell them about the Crucified but Risen 
Lord. We did so, and when thru, this medicine 
man asked us several questions about our story. 
Finally he told me that he was the best Navaho 
doctor on all the Reservation, There were none 
better. After a while I told this medicine man 
I had a terrible pain right in the middle of my 
stomach. Couldn't he help me, as he was the 
best of all the doctors? My, it was getting worse L 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 173 

This old fellow began to get worried and looked 
appealingly at me until I looked at my watch, 
and no wonder I had that terrible gnawing 
pain. It was 12 o'clock and time to eat, after 
which the hunger pain left me. How chagrined 
he was can be easily imagined! He became one 
of my best friends. At certain places they had 
no time to hear the Gospel, but my friend invar- 
iably made time for me. 

All medicine men or Navaho doctors are not 
that courteous. Sometimes to their own people 
they are gruff and scold. Especially when other 
"doctors" are busy or scarce, then they act a 
little rough and independent. In our camping 
with the Navahoes we ran across one crusty old 
fellow who had just completed a ceremony over 
a baby who had been very sick. We began to 
speak about the baby, and when the mother 
went out to get some wood, he confided to us 
that he could cure the baby, but these people 
were stingy, so he didn't heal the baby, saying 
another and a different kind of ceremony was 
needed. We told him he ought to go to jail if 
he could cure this poor sick child and refused on 
account of small payment, and I would report it 
to the Agent when I got back. Then he became 
just as nice as could be, vowing with the next 
song he would cure the child. And he did, too. 

You understand, of course, there are Navaho 
doctors who are conscientious and wouldn't per- 
form two ceremonies where one would suffice. 



174 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Many of them are like our doctors in that re- 
spect, if you will pardon the comparison. A 
number of them began to know us, and when- 
ever -^ we ate wdth them they invariably waited 
for me to ask a blessing. I can't always say this 
of some white people I meet with. Once, after 
many days in camp, we arrived at an Indian 
Trading Store. It was evening and we were 
thankful we were going to get a good place to 
sleep in. This white trader invited us to supper. 
While setting the table, it was just one curse 
after another. Every other word was a swear- 
word. No place for me, I thought! When we 
sat down to supper, this white man was still 
swearing, first at this and then at that, because 
there was no milk, then because there was no 
jelly. This trader began to reach for things, 
when I said, "Let's pray," and then with an "I'll 
be blowed" from the trader, I asked a blessing. 
From that time he never swore when I was 
around. Another trader, knowing I was a mis- 
sionary, w^ould test me from time to time. The 
last time I cured him when he put a record on 
his phonograph and requested me to dance with 
his wife. He said it was a "two-step." I de- 
clined, informing him I didn't know anything 
about a "two-step," but I did know something 
about being one step from hell. He never tried 
me again. 

It was on one of these trips that I came to a 
place very much discouraged. I had no inter- 



IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 175 

preter and was doing the best I could in giving 
the Navaho the Gospel. It was very hard work, 
I can tell you. I came to a place w^here some 
twenty or thirty Indians were gathered. I did 
what I could, and they understood all right, but 
when they began to ask questions, I couldn't an- 
swer because of my lack of the Navaho language. 
They said I couldn't answer. I was afraid, and 
so on. I sure was in a bad fix. All that after- 
noon I noticed a young Indian all decked up with 
his beads, rings, and bracelets. He had a derby 
hat on with the top cut otf", with a string under 
his chin. He looked so comical, that many times 
I had all I could do to keep a straight face. Many 
times I said to myself, 'This young man sure 
looks like a clown in the circus." I wondered 
where he picked uj) that old hat. When the 
Navahoes were tormenting me about not answer- 
ing their questions, I breathed a (juick but short 
prayer to God for help. Suddenly some one in 
the rear began to answer the questions in Nav- 
aho. What a relief! To my amazement I found 
it was my "clown" whom the Lord had sent to 
help me. After the sermonette I found out that 
his brother had heard the Gospel, went home 
and told this young man, his younger brother. 
He believed the story and began to walk on God's 
road, while his elder brother laughed at him. 
How wonderful God works at times! How past 
finding out His ways! 

This wonderful provision of God is constantly 



176 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

seen in our camping with the Navahoes. One 
time we had visited many Navahoes in their 
homes. We had travelled far from home, when 
our horses got sick, and we didn't know what to 
do to help them. We told the Lord about it, and 
went on our way. We had rolled the burden 
upon the Lord, and there we left it. That after- 
noon we came to an isolated store, where a 
white man met us. "Come in, folks. My, I'm 
glad to see a white man. Uncle Sam sent me 
away out to this God-forsaken country. Michi- 
gan looks mighty line to me just now. Here it is 
so dry and barren. Why did the Government 
send me, a horse doctor, out to this place for any 
way?" I told him why; because the Lord knew 
my horses were to get sick and provided a horse 
doctor to help His servant out. He fixed up my 
horses in fine shape over night. And what was 
my surprise to find out he was a Hollander and 
knew many people I knew in Grand Rapids. 
How sweet to hear a few Holland words from 
him, although I couldn't answer him as good as 
I wished to in Holland. And he miles away 
from civilization. Yes, indeed the Lord takes 
care of His servants. No question about this in 
my mind. 

When looking up Navahoes to tell them about 
Jesus, we are compelled to sleep wherever night 
finds us. Sometimes we sleep under a cedar or 
pine tree, in the arroyos, in the hogans — any- 
where — as long as we have a place to lay our 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 177 

bedding down. During the winter, when the 
snow is deep, we must first break ofl" some tree 
branches, and using it as a broom, clear away 
enough snow so we can lay down. Very often 
then it snows all night, and in the morning 
everything is completely wet. In the spring we 
have sleet and sandstorms, and in the fall we 
have the rainy season. Then frequently we are 
aroused from our sleep by the rain. We make 
the best of it until the morning, only to find that 
everything is soaked. One time we laid in wa- 
ter practically all night, with our shoes and other 
articles all tucked nicely under the blankets. 
AVhen morning arrived even the shoes and the 
matches were soaked. Then the breakfast we 
had was a tin-can lunch. We were thankful we 
had that to eat. But some day I am going to ar- 
range a lot of canned goods before me and say, 
"Now you old tin cans, I am thru with you. I 
don't need you any more. Good-bye, friend." 
One gets so tired of eating tin-can lunches, and 
yet that is the only thing that keeps in hot 
weather. So the camp trips go on; first the tor- 
rents of rain in the fall, then the hot desert blasts 
of summer, followed by the snow and intense 
cold of the winter months. Occasionally we find 
a hogan to pass the night in. If it is empty we 
are happy. Sometimes it is empty because it 
is a "devil's home." A "devil's home" is a ho- 
gan where a Navaho died. They are afraid of 
such a place, therefore when one is dying they 



178 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

bring the person out of the hogan alongside of a 
bush and there let them die. Many of them die 
in the hogan, so they simply vacate it and nevei 
return. The visiting Navaho soon fmds out if a 
hogan is a "devil's home," so he shuns it. On 
account of the weather we often sleep in one of 
these "devil's homes." The poor Indians look at 
us in amazement to think we would have the 
courage to sleep in such a place. But when I tell 
them how I was lost once and slept in a "devil's 
home," where the body was buried inside the 
hogan, and am alive to tell the tale, they first 
think I am in partnership with Mr. Devil, then 
they change their mind and say I am alive be- 
cause I am the missionary, and God's Story 
makes one brave. 

Whenever we come to an inhabited hogan we 
always know it long before we get there. 
Usually the dogs are reception connnittee. They 
bark and make a terrible noise, so our coming is 
widely heralded. When we get nearer the chil- 
dren can then see us, and oh, how they do scam- 
per to tell mother and father a white man is 
coming! When we finally arrive and walk in, 
as we do not knock any more, there is usually 
a sheepskin for us to sit on. These sheepskins 
are full of lice generally, and if you should sit 
on one you are sure of getting acquainted with 
some very interesting friends. One such hogan 
I shall never forget if I live to be 100 years old. 
This hogan had a large family in it, and it in- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 179 

eluded an old lady. Now you never know what 
an old Navaho lady is going to do. She is an un- 
known quantity, to use an algebraic term. Well, 
this time she was so glad to see me, the poor old 
soul just took me in her thin, wrinkled arms and 
— and — what do you think she did? She un- 
blushingly planted a kiss upon my cheek. Al- 
though she didn't kiss me like my wife does, 
still I thanked her for it, because she was so 
hai)py to see me. That night grandmother enter- 
tained me and gave me a nice mattress to sleep 
on. I thought I was getting to be somebody. All 
that night I couldn't sleep because my friends,, 
the lice, were feasting off me. The morning 
came, oh so slow, and when I looked for my 
friends, they were all scampering for a hiding- 
place under the edges of the mattress. Then I 
vowed no more mattresses for me on a camp- 
trip among the Navahoes! 

Grandmother thought I would get lonesome, I 
suppose, if she didn't do the cooking for me. So 
she started in to get breakfast ready. Once in a 
while she stopped, took an insect off her head 
and put it in her mouth. I heard a cracking 
sound, but thought no more about it, but when 
she repeated the performance time and time 
again, I questioned my interpreter and he told 
me she would spit them out as soon as her 
mouth was full. This she did to my great relief. 
It was none too soon for me, I can tell you. While 
grandmother was doing this, another occupant. 



180 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

a young mother, was busy giving the baby a bath 
in the frying-pan. As I knew grandmother was 
going to use that pan, my stomach or something 
in that neighborhood began to give a gurgUng 
sound, you know the kind I mean, and I thought, 
all's off with me. I closed my eyes for a moment 
or two, maybe five, I don't know. I do know it 
was quite a while before I opened them, but 
when I did, old grandmother was busy killing 
lice on the butcher knife with her thumb, and 
then using the knife to cut some mutton. How 
quick I closed my eyes I can't tell you, but they 
stayed closed for a long, long time. While they 
were closed I prayed to the Lord, reverently, you 
understand, for grace to meet this situation. Sud- 
denly I heard the cry of "Let us eat." I asked a 
blessing and slowly ate with the rest. I was 
hungry enough to eat fast but — you know how 
it is. 

Camping with the Navahoes for the purpose 
of bringing them the Gospel is no sinecure, to 
say the least. If you refuse to eat with them, 
you can't win them. Only recently I ate with 
the Navahoes, and when all thru they said, "Now 
we know you are the missionary who loves us. 
Other white people say we are dirty and they 
W'On't eat our food, but here you come, tell us 
about God and eat our food. We are happy to 
see you do it." Of course, I never tell them of 
the special grace God gives me to do it, but, as 
the Apostle Paul was all to all men, so we arc to 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 181 

these poor heathen Navaho. I do this in order 
to win them to Christ, Frequently my wife gives 
me enough sandwiches for a day trip, but a 
camp-missionary can't do anything amounting 
to much in one day. He just gets started when 
it is time for him to get back. Many an amusing 
incident has followed the giving of these sand- 
wiches to the Indians. They are afraid of eggs, 
saying they will get a large family if they eat 
them. Salmon they refuse because those who 
eat it will get sores in the stomach. Now it hap- 
pens these are my favorite dishes, especially as 
sandwiches. They like to eat white man's food, 
so thru courtesy I offer them a sandwich o^ 
either eggs or salmon. The moment they find 
out what it is they drop it like a hot brick. 
Sometimes they don't ask, so I don't tell them, 
then a month or so later I tell them about it and 
point out the fact that nothing happened to 
them. In this way, perhaps, we can get them to 
see things difl'eerntly. It is hard to do this, but 
this is my aim along with the preaching. You 
know when a person dies in a hogan, the Nav- 
ahoes always leave that hogan. Some go so far 
as to burn the hogan. They used to come to me 
to ask me for help in burying their dead. This 
I was always glad to do if they would help me 
dig the grave. Very often they refused to do 
this; then I left them to their own devices. If 
they helped then I would go along to supervise 
the job. When the burning of the hogan was 



182 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

next on the program, 1 would ask for it, as it is 
made from the best and stoutest posts. Gener- 
ally they granted my request. Then for a day or 
two I would haul in the old "devil's home." When 
they visited me, my wife would offer them a cup 
of coffee and then a second cup was asked for, 
and sometimes a third. When all were satis- 
fied, 1 would tell them the coffee was made by 
burning the "devil's" wood from the hogan. 
Then what a howl and a yell ! But when I asked 
them if the coffee didn't taste good, they had to 
confess that it did. Then 1 asked them why are 
you yelling for then? The next time they come 
for more, as they dearly love coffee. Thus we 
try to teach them in more ways than one. Only 
a new heart from God can affect a change that 
is lasting and satisfying. 

Invariably when camping with the Navahoes 
any length of time they asked my interpreter his 
clan name. Once I remember we arrived at a 
camp very hungry indeed. Our food supply 
gave out, also our water, and here we were hun- 
dreds of miles from home, fifty miles from a 
store and in a neighborhood in which we were 
totally unacquainted. We told them who we 
were and where we came from and why we 
were traveling thru the country. After the mes- 
sage was given we told them of our plight, but 
it didn't seem to awaken any cord of sympathy, 
for they just listened, but that's all. Now listen- 
ing doesn't do your stomach any good, espe- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 183 

cially when said stomach is sending an S. O. S. 
for something to eat. \Vc began to talk about 
clans, when I told them 1 came from the "Many 
Goats" Clan. This certainly surprised them, 
and they laughingly asked me how that was, so 
I related why I took this clan name. "Four years 
ago I bought a small goat or kid for my two 
children. This kid became a great pet. It used 
to buck my wife with its little horns, while she 
was hanging clothes on the line. My family 
took a month's camp-trip overland in a prairie 
schooner. When we returned a coyote had eaten 
the pet goat up. So I took this clan name in re- 
membrance of the pet goat." Well, do you know 
that when I got thru they got right on the job to 
fix us something to eat. One lady began to make 
"clapping bread" similar to our pancakes, and 
called "clapping bread" because of the move- 
ments of the hands in turning the dough over 
and over again; another began to sharpen the 
knife preparatory to cutting some mutton; a 
3'oung girl got water on for the cotTee, and before 
I knew it I heard these sweet words, "Let's eat." 
I can assure you 1 ate all right. Rib after rib 
vanished, the fat running down my chin, fingers 
wet with grease, and how good it tasted could 
be seen by what was left. We left bones only. 
Ordinarily I don't eat much fat, but at times 
like this I forget that I don't eat fatty meat. Now 
why this sudden change in their manner? Why 
all this hustle and bustle? One would think we 



184 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

were really persons of high distinction. The 
cause of all this lay in the mere fact that I be- 
longed to the same clan as these people did, 
namely the "Many Goats" Clan. So you can see 
small things, as clan names, come in very handy 
sometimes. 

By camping with them the missionary gets 
inside information of their home life. As we all 
know, if you want to know a person well, just 
live wdth him a wdiile. Then yoa will get an 
intimate glimpse of his private and home life, 
like you never could get in any other way. So 
with the Navahoes. By eating and sleeping with 
them, you get some of the idiomatic expressions. 
You can learn many things if you keep your ears 
wide open. Then you can learn their language 
and give it the right flavor in pronunciation, for 
the Navaho language has a flavor all its own. 
Every time I camp with them I practice my Nav- 
aho and how they roar with the way I come out 
with some words. When they correct me I know 
1 got it right then, and so we use it correctly the 
next time. But the language is so difficult to 
learn. Progress is very slow indeed. Here a 
little, there a little; here a line, there a line; 
an expression here, and a sentence there. And 
so the language study goes on. But I can see 
progress has been made, even though it has been 
slow. "Alle goede dingen komen langzaam." 

In their idiomatic expressions lies food for 
thought. Many times they can say a w^hole lot 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 185 

with a few words. Another time they use many 
words to express what to us is a simple thought. 
Some of the female Navahoes have a very sharp 
tongue, so these pithy expressions come in 
handy. Once I was sleeping with them. The 
kin was crowded. There must have been about 
nine or ten persons in this kin of about 16 x 18, 
besides ourselves, four dogs and two cats and a 
lamb. You can imagine what a delightful odor 
came to meet us when we entered right from the 
fresh, though cold air. In a few moments we 
got accustomed to it and slept in that atmosphere 
that night. The children began to cry. They 
were told to "hush," which they all did except a 
small girl of about eight years old. She kept 
up crying until her mother said to her in a sharp 
tone, like only some Navaho mothers can use, 
"What are you crying for? Did your husband 
die?" It is needless to say the crying stopped. I 
surely felt sorry for the poor tot, although I 
needed my night's rest. 

In camping with Navahoes, one quickly learns 
their religious beliefs, what stories they are al- 
lowed to tell only during the winter time, what 
games they are permitted to play only in the 
winter time, which perhaps might prove to be 
of interest to my readers, but time and space 
prevents. Let it suffice when I say the Navahoes 
haven't very many games. They have one 
game from the remote past, which only men par- 
ticipate in, while another game for women is of 



186 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

recent origin. Their stories for winter relation 
are many and interesting, but it must be passed 
over at this time. 

^Yhat a grand opportunity we have while 
camping with them to reflect the image of our 
Master. Our actions are constantly under their 
surveillance, and all our deeds and words are 
frequently brought before the bar of judgment. 
These words and deeds either accuse or excuse 
us in their eyes. Hence, how careful one must 
be so no erroneous idea might be received of 
our blessed Lord. The Gospel has not lost its 
power in drawing men and women to the Cross 
of Christ. For after all is said and done, this is 
our main purpose in camping with the Navahoes, 
to be an instrument in God's hand to bring them 
to a saving knowledge of Him, Whom to know 
is life eternal. One of the saddesl and most pa- 
thetic incidents of all my experiences as a camp- 
missionary came to me a few weeks ago. We 
had visited a camp, had given the message with 
gladness and singleness of heart. We were 
about to leave, when I saw an old lady hid be- 
yond a bush, sitting on a sheepskin. I went up 
to her and shook her hand and gave her the 
usual Navaho greeting of: "Is it well?" I told 
her who I was, whereupon she told me: 'T am 
110 years old. I know 1 am, because 1 was 53 
years when I went into captivity. Now I am 
blind, I am all alone, no one cares for me. My 
little one, my little one, what shall I do? You 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 187 

have told me about God's home where I can go 
to if I walk on God's road. In God's home my 
blindness will be gone. Oh, how happy I would 
be if I really could go there. Here they leave 
me alone. They just bring me a little food, not 
much. No one cares for me." If you could 
have heard that pitiful wail, it would almost 
break your heart like it did mine. Lovingly we 
told her God is willing, aye anxious, to receive 
her if she but come with a confession of her sins. 
But we couldn't convince her that God loved her 
and Jesus cared for her, because it seemed ut- 
terly foreign to her mind. 

Ah, dear readers, there are many Navahoes to 
Avhom the Gospel is strange. It is our supreme 
duty to make it so simple that a child can grasp 
it. This is our loving duty to the Master. It 
was He Who sent us here. It is He Who sus- 
tains us. We repeatedly remind ourselves that 
God can and will do great things for us if our 
faith is only large enough. God can't (humanly 
speaking) give a heart a quart of blessings, when 
it only has a pint capacity. We constantly re- 
mind ourselves that while failure to bring the 
Gospel to the Navahoes is a great crime, a low 
aim not to expect great things from God is also 
a sin. Therefore, let us go from strength to 
strength, having faith in a groat God, Who will in 
His own good time gather some of these Nav- 
ahoes to complete the body of Christ. 

Loving Father, hasten that day! 



188 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

IX. 
TOHATCHI, NEW MEXICO 

TOHATCHI, "Little Water," is the second 
place that was occupied by the Christian 
Reformed Church in its work among the Nav- 
ahoes. After having served as assistant to the 
Rev. H. Fryling at Fort Defiance for some time, 
Mr. James De Groot was sent to Tohatchi, a 
branch station of the Fort Defiance Agency. 
Having, as it were, just begun the work, he w^as 
succeeded in the year 1900 by the Rev. L. P. 
Brink. The experiences and labors of this 
brother are spoken of in a preceding Chapter, 
"A Pioneer Missionary to the Navahoes." 

With the departure of Rev, Brink from To- 
hatchi, this district, one of the best on our al- 
lotted territory, has experienced a continual 
change of laborers, and this has not proven to 
be beneficial, but rather detrimental. Rev. D. H. 
Muyskens was the first to continue the w^ork 
here after Brother Brink went to California, but 
it was only temporary, for the Rev. Muyskens, 
Missionary of the Paterson, N. J., churches, was 
called to take up the work at Crown Point. He 
was simply abiding at Tohatchi until things 
could take shape at Crown Point, When he 
finally left, Tohatchi station was vacant until 
the Rev. Lee S. Huizenga, M. D., took up his 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 189 

abode there. This brother, we all know, was 
not where he wanted to be when he was at To- 
hatchi in the Indian work, for his heart was set 
upon and, according, to his own testimony, his 
life was consecrated to the cause of Christ in a 
foreign land. He was serving in the Indian field 
only until such a time when the Church would 
be ready to send him out into foreign work. By 
way of an interpolation, we can say, that that 
day dawned in the fall of 1920, when on the 
30th of October, Dr. and Mrs. Huizenga, with 
their three children. Rev. and Mrs. J. C. De 
Korne with two children, and Rev. and Mrs. 
H. A. Dykstra, set sail from San Francisco, Cal.» 
as the first representatives of the Christian Re- 
formed Church to bring the Gospel to the 
Chinese. May the Lord be with them and bless 
them in selecting the field for the Foreign Mis- 
sion work of our Church. 

The Rev. Dr. L. S. Huizenga during his first 
stay at Tohatchi, asked for and received as an 
assitant Mr. Mark Bouma, a brother more or less 
acquainted with the work among the Navahoes, 
having served a term as General Manager at 
Rehoboth, After Dr. Huizenga's permanent de- 
parture from the Indian field, Mr. Bouma was 
placed in full charge of the work at Tohatchi by 
the churches of Holland, Michigan, who have 
made the support of this station their particular 
and peculiar care. 

During the periods of vacancy which Tohatchi 



190 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

experienced, the Roman Catholics entered the 
field and established their work there. This, as 
becomes evident from the following description 
of the work written by Mr. Bouma, has caused a 
division among the children, for now some are 
being taught by the Catholic Priest and others by 
the Protestant Missionary. Whoever succeeds in 
getting the thumb-print of the parents, obtains 
therewith the privilege of giving religious in- 
struction to the child. When we recall the ex- 
periences and the outcome of our struggle with 
this same party at Fort Defiance, we are loathe 
to think of what may happen in the future at 
Tohatchi. One thing we are sure of, and that is 
that this station nor any other should be left 
without a resident worker for any length of time. 
One of our strongest men should be called and 
located at such a station, and undoubtedly he 
should be supplied with the best of interpreters 
as well as with an assistant to look after the 
faraway camps which he would not be able to 
reach regularly without neglecting his work at 
the school. Thus working in the closest har- 
mony, the Missionary and his assistant may be 
able to hold the ground. This matter should as- 
suredly teach us a lesson for the future. Never 
again allow a station to remain vacant and un- 
manned. It is possible to prevent this if the 
spirit of self-denial is practised, and the welfare 
of the whole is considered rather than the wel- 
fare of a certain part. 



IN IIOGAN AND PUEBLO 191 

Brother Bouma has a difficult field to labor in, 
and we should remember him in our prayers 
and back him up with our encouragement. If 
he, who is undoubtedly more or less acquainted 
with the whole Tohatchi district would consent 
to assume the camp-work and the Classis of Hol- 
land would send an ordained Missionary to care 
for the school work and the nearby camps, this 
would be, in our estimation, the best solution 
of the problem, and the very best arrangement 
that could be made for the place. 

At Tohatchi much time has been spent, great 
efforts have been put forth, many dollars have 
been invested, the confidence of the people in 
the district has been won, blessed fruit upon the 
work has been gathered in, and therefore by all 
means everything possible should be done to 
conserve what has been gained. I am sure you 
will be interested to read the following experi- 
ences of the Tohatchi Missionary as he follows 
the trail of the Navaho over the mountains, 
thru the valleys, across the plains, and into the 
rocks. 



192 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ON THE TRAIL OF THE NAVAHO IN AND 
AROUND TOHATCHI 



MR. MARK BOUMA, Missionay-in-Charge at Tohatchi. 

HTHE COMMAND, ''Go yc teach all na- 

•'■ tions " includes the adult Navahoes, 

and in order to reach them, we surely must "hit 
the trail." Although most of them do enjoy 
hearing "stories," very few will go out of their 
\vay to hear the Gospel. It must be brought to 
them in their homes. The ideal would be to 
have systematic camp-work done from out of 
every mission post. That would mean a camp- 
worker for each post, who does nothing but 
visiting camps. Our Tohatchi man, would have 
to cover an area of about one thousand square 
miles, which would keep him busy, and afford 
the Indians a visit none too often. 

As we are situated now, one man being re- 
sponsible for that entire field, and also for the 
school- and home work, which alone can keep 
one busy, it is easily understood that some part 
of the work must be neglected. Because the 
class-work with the school children is set at 
fixed hours, and it seems a shame to go away 
when work at home (such as personal work with 
school children, Indians calling at the Mission, 
etc.), must be neglected, our camps are visited 
very irregularly and at great intervals. 

These periodic visits at the camps arc often 
caused by some special emergency, a few of 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 193 

which I'll quote to give you somewhat an idea 
of our work. 

About two miles from our Mission is the camp 
of "Many-Goats-Nephew." One morning early 
the entire family was at breakfast outside of 
the hogan with the exception of a five-year-old 
laddie, who was still asleep inside. All at once 
a crash was heard, and then they saw that the 
roof of the hogan had caved in. It had rained 
some during the night, which propably caused 
the catastrophe. Rushing to the place of disas- 
ter, they found the boy buried beneath the 
beams and dirt. It took them only a very short 
time to rescue him, but imagine their grief 
when they saw their child badly bruised about 
the head. Word was at once sent to the govern- 
ment doctor, who walked over, as there was no 
vehicle at hand. A hasty examination revealed 
that the lad was scalped, and would probably 
die. The doctor did what he could under the 
circumstances and went home. 

Because the government car was not in run- 
ning order, I was asked to take the doctor to 
that camp after breakfast. When we arrived 
there, the child had already died. Upon a closer 
investigation we found a fracture of the skull 
and a piece of wood stuck into the brain. Never 
before had I seen a skull so completely scalped. 

There we stood, unable to do a thing for these 
heart-broken parents and grandmother. The 
doctor talked about it in a matter-of-fact way, 



194 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

and wanted to go right back. It was plain to 
be seen that the man had never lost a child of 
his own, nor felt any concern for the spiritual 
welfare of these people. 

While the grandmother prepared the child for 
burial (for it was decided that I take it away 
and bury it) I stood by, thinking. My thoughts 
surely "multiplied within me." About two hours 
before this child was asleep, no one suspecting 
any danger. Now in eternity, without having 
given the parents one word or look of recogni- 
tion. I thanked the Lord for the sickbed of our 
boy, brief as it was. I thought of Psalm 94: 19, 
but realized that it does not apply to these 
stricken relatives, because they know of no 
"comforts" as the Psalmist mentions, and as so 
many of God's people experience, even in times 
of greatest distress. 

While the child was being washed and clad in 
new clothes, which the father had hurriedly pur- 
chased in the nearby Indian trading store, an- 
other member of the family was carrying all 
the household articles away, as they would not 
dare to do that after the corpse was ready for 
burial. The child died just outside the hogan in 
which it had received its death-blow, which fact 
compels them to move away and never come 
near the place again. Superstition predominates 
with respect to anything and everything you can 
name. They will remain in the vicinity four 
days, which must be spent in "mourning," and 



IN 



HOGAN AND PUEBLO 195 



then they move away and resume their usual 

activities. „ 

Although burials bring us much "on the trail 
of the Navaho, they are very unsatisfactory as 
far as real gospel work is concerned. Before the 
burial, the folks are usually not in the mood to 
listen to the Gospel, because it is always m their 
first grief that we find them. Their dead must 
be buried at once. Then they do not want to 
meet us for four days because those that bury a 
corpse are "unclean" for that length of time. It 
we visit them after those days have expired, it is 
not wise to refer to either the deceased or the 
burial in any way, as the most of them would 
greatly object. Burying their dead may wm their 
good-will, (and so much has to be done to wm 
that), but it brings them very little direct 
Gospel. 

The Government requests that the mission- 
aries get the consent of the parents before they 
may give religious instruction to the pupils ot 
the Government schools. This rule is especially 
enforced at the schools where both Cathohcs 
and Protestants have their missionaries. Be- 
cause of the illiteracy of the Navahoes, we have 
printed forms on which the parent impresses 
his or her thumb-print. 

Where there is only one missionary, this 
ruling does not involve much extra work nor 
embarrassment, because a child is compelled to 



196 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

attend religious instruction, and with very little 
persuasion the thumb-prints are obtained. The 
missionary can patiently await the coming of 
the parents, knowing he is sure of the child. 
But where both Catholics and Protestants are 
working, as at Tohatchi, this matter is more 
serious. If parents bring in their children here, 
there are two missionaries aw^aiting them, who 
nominally are doing the same work. Unless the 
minds of these parents are biased thru certain 
circumstances, the missionary who first asks 
thein gets the signature, especially if the other 
man is not in sight. If perchance both are on 
the scene, it is embarrassing to the missionaries 
and to the parents alike. No missionary likes 
to use persuasive means in the presence of his 
opponent, and Mr. Navaho is very much set on 
"keeping on the right side" of both missionaries 
for possible material aid. 

One day a man assigned his boy to me, but 

seeing Fr. M , whose friendship he also 

wanted to hold, he said that he had more chil- 
dren at home, and when he brought the next one 
in he would give the signature to the Father. 
This, of course, had to serve as a pacifier! 

This "signature business" certainly puts us 
on the trail. As soon as we have any intima- 
tion of a family thinking of sending a child to 
school, we "hit the traiV and look them up, no 
matter how far they live away from us. If they 
tell us that it is their intention to send a child. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 197 

^ve ask them for their signature, explaining that 
there are two missionaries there, that only one 
of these two can have the child, that we are the 
"short-coat" missionaries, and well, what- 
ever we think we ought to tell them. Sometimes 
we have no trouble at all and soon have their 
thumb-print. 

But that the thumb-print does not positively 
assure us of the child, the following incident re- 
veals. We asked D. M for his signature for 

the little boy he promised to bring to school. 
He readily gave it because we also have his 
little girl who is at school here. But. . . .when 

D. M brought the boy, he first came to my 

room, requesting the paper he had signed, be- 
cause he had come to the conclusion that it was 
better policy to give one child to each mission- 
ary, as he might need the help of both. I did not 
return him the paper, but told him he was at 
liberty to give his boy whom he would, although 
I tried to dissuade him from giving him to the 
Catholics. Saying that the child's mother wished 
her son to be put on the other side, he left me. 
I knew this was not so, but had to let him go. 
He went to Fr. M — — , who was greatly surprised, 
well knowing that his girl was on our side. But, 
of course, he was glad to get the child and ac- 
cepted the signature. D. M had no more than 

given his thumb-print, when he asked the Father 
if he did not have some lumber for him to make 
a door for his hogan. (The Father had just fin- 



198 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ished building the church, and had some hnnber 
left.) 

If, when we go out after signatures we meet a 
family that is prejudiced against us, it is often 
interesting and amusing to notice their dodging. 
Not often will they say right out that they want 
their child on the other side, but will give all 
kinds of evading answers. 

It is not principle that decides for them, be- 
cause they understand neither Catholicism nor 
Protestantism. Their motives vary, but are 
mostly politic. One reason why there is a marked 
decrease on our side and an increase on the 
side of Rome, is that Rome influences the head 
men of the Navahoes, who in turn use their 
authoritative powder among their subjects. Be- 
cause these head men are invariably medicine- 
men, they have a marked influence over the 
people. 

It is not a wise policy to solicit signatures for 
children while out camp-preaching, because 
most of the parents must almost be compelled 
to send their children to school, and if the mis- 
sionary keeps asking for children, he will be less 
welcome at the camp. If it is during the time 
that new children are expected at the school, 
and especially if it is noised abroad that a cer- 
tain family intends to send a child, it is allright 
to ask for the signature. 

While soliciting these signatures, w^e have 
great opportunities to bring them the Gospel. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 199 

They invariably ask what the difference is be- 
tween our rehgion and that of the "long-coats," 
but instead of answering that question directly, 
we give them as much Gospel as possible, telling 
them that our commission is to bring the Gos- 
pel and not to run down Rome. Sometimes we 
cannot well get out of telling them something 
about the difference, and then we touch upon 
the radical points. They do not understand 
enough about either Church to appreciate this 
explanation. 

Sam lives about fifteen miles away from here, 
on a mountain which is difficult to climb with a 
car. Sam met me one day and asked if I would 
not come to his camp. His wife had an ulcera- 
tion of the breast; had been down for some 
time; could not nurse the baby; often fainted, 
etc. He realized she should have hospital treat- 
ment (Sam is an ex-pupil of the Government 
school), and wanted me to help him persuade 
his wife to go to Rehoboth. 

So George and I started out, praying that the 
way might be opened for some effective work. 
It surely was a task to get there. Because of un- 
usual drought, they had moved to a place where 
otherwise nobody ever lived, and where I'm 
sure never a car had been before. Had I 
known what we would encounter, I would not 
have ventured into the pinons, but once in there 
we had to proceed. The water in our Ford boiled 



200 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

so much that it burned the radiator hose, and we 
consequently had a difficult time getting back 
home. 

We found the camp and Mrs. Sam. She was 
emaciated, and it was easily to be seen that she 
had suffered a great deal, and was still in pain. 
Two ulcers had broken and the wounds had not 
been taken care of, so you can imagine the filth 
and stench. Another ulcer was forming, causing 
a great deal of pain. It seemed to me this one 
was in the right condition to be lanced, but that 
was beyond my skill and daring. The woman's 
temperature and pulse was running very high. 
Fever, pain, and loss of sleep were draining her 
system. 

She was anxious to have me do something for 
her, and watched every move I made, expecting 
me to give her medicine. But she would not 
hear of going to the Hospital. All kinds of ex- 
cuses she had to offer, none of which were very 
weighty. She had been in the Hospital before, 
knew she would be well taken care of, even 
realized that if she did not go she would have 
to suffer a great deal more, but positively re- 
fused to go. 

Although her husband made a few feeble ef- 
forts toward getting her consent, he did not seem 
half as anxious as when he spoke to me the day 

before. And he spoke differently to me 

than he did to his wife. She could not under- 
stand what he said to me, and he supposed 1 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 201 

could not follow him when he spoke Navaho. I 
did, however, understand some, and interro- 
gated my interpreter afterwards. Then I learned 
that the case was thus. 

Sam is a very immoral man, and his wife 
knows it, and he knows that she knows it. She 
dared not leave the camp, knowing what it 
would lead her husband to, and she shielded 
him before me, in not giving the reason why she 
would not let me take her away. He wanted 
her to go for more than one reason, but he did 
not dare to say too much for fear she would be- 
gin to unburden her mind to me. 

The issue of this affair was that the woman 
remained at home and suffered much more than 
she would have had she gone to the Hospital. 
What little medicine I left could do her very 
little, if any, good. We offered them the Balm 
of Gilead, and pointed out to them the Great 
Physician, Who can cleanse even "moral lepers." 



One of the school girls had been very sick. 
While convalescing I obtained permission to 
take her home for a brief visit. Her parents 
were very glad to see her so well again, wdiich 
they had hardly dared to hope some weeks 
previous. 

While the girl was visiting her mother and 
sisters in the hogan, George and I had a very in- 
teresting talk with the father. Although he does 
not understand much of the christian religion. 



202 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

he knows it must be good, because one of his 
sons, who is off at school and is a christian, is 
one of his best boys. If rehgion can produce 
such fruits, it must be a power for good. I 
greatly rejoiced hearing this testimony, the 
more so, because that son is one of our Tohatchi 
converts, a young man who really promises well. 
If all our converts would be "unto God a sweet 
savour of Christ," what an untold influence for 
good they would exert. 

After we explained the law of God to this 
father, as a rule for our lives, he did not wonder 
about the earnest endeavor of his son to live ac- 
cording to that law, although he did not see why 
eternal life could not be obtained thru good 
works, such as living according to this law. 

While reconnoitering about the camp, I dis- 
covered a miniature brush shelter. Suspecting 
that this was the abode of the old grandmother 
whom I knew to be living in the camp and had 
not seen with the family, I walked toward it. 
There she sat, very old, feeble, blind, almost 
nude, with finger- and toe-nails about one-half 
inch long, a tangled mass of grey hair about her 
head, a most forlorn and pitiable sight. A rope 
was tied to one of the twigs of the shelter, which 
she would take hold of when she wished to walk 
a bit. 

I have often seen similar scenes, but cannot 
get accustomed to them. After I had stood there 
a while, looking at the old lady and thinking of 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 203 

my grandmother, whom I adored, I spoke to her 
as best I could. Although I called her my grand- 
mother and she called me her grandson, we did 
not understand each other as well as grand- 
mothers and grand-children usually do; but she 
made me understand that she was hungry, that 
her children neglected her, giving her barely 
enough food to keep alive, and giving her no 
clothes at all. She asked me for food, but I had 
none with me. 

This was no exception to the rule. As long 
as the grandparents are sturdy and able to man- 
age, they rule over all the children and grand- 
children, and sometimes with an iron hand. 
They are the heads of the camp. But when they 
become feeble, they are usually neglected, as 
was this old lady I mentioned. Even the chil- 
dren seem to feel no concern for them, because 
my protegee, although not a professing chris- 
tion girl, but one who has some education, and 
has had several years of religious instruction, 
did not go to see her grandmother. It is doubt- 
ful whether the old lady ever knew that her 
granddaughter had been home. 

David, when persecuted by a rebellious son in 
his old age, prayed for divine assistance (Psalm 
71: 9), but these people have not learned to do 
that. They know of no- God of love and mercy. 
They are just waiting for death to take them 

to they know not where. They are in the 

dark. 



204 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

When one makes calls he may expect to be 
called upon in return. We also experience that 
here. For every imaginable and sometimes un- 
imaginable reason the Indians call upon us. Of- 
ten we cannot do more than give them some ad- 
vice in the matter, and even that is sometimes 
very hard. But it helps win friendship and con- 
fidence, and puts us in contact with the people. 
We mostly have an opportunity to present them 
with a bit of Gospel. 

On the Tohatchi mission premises we have, 
besides the church-building and our home, a 
small house known as the "kin." It has two 
rooms : one which I use for my study, reception 
room for Indians, etc., etc. The other one is 
called the Camp-house. It has in it a stove, table,, 
chairs and two sewing-machines for Navaho 
women to sew on. Those that know how to sew 
help themselves, others are taught by Mrs. 
Bouma. 

That same room is used for Indians to lodge 
in. Sometimes two or more families happen 
to come at the same time, and then floor space 
is at a premium. 

One Tuesday evening, when we came from the 
church, where we had been instructing the 
school children, a family was waiting alongside 
the Camp-house, anxious to get in. Hurriedly I 
started a fire for them and tried to make them 
comfortable, as it was cold, and they had a child 
wrapped up in a blanket. We supposed it was a 



206 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

sleeping infant, and paid no more attention to it. 

Three of the school boys went with me into 
my room, desiring to talk. After a while I asked 
one of them to step into the other room to sec if 
the fire was allright, because very few of the 
camp Indians can keep a fire goijig in a stove, 
especially with coal. After a few minutes the 
boy came back, asking if I had any medicine for 
burns. The child in the other room had burnt 
itself. I took the people some medicine (of 
which I keep a goodly supply on hand), think- 
ing I could do something to relieve, when to 
my horror I found a six-year-old girl very badly 
burned, unconscious, and with the death pallor 
on her face. Upon inquiry we found that they 
had come more than twenty miles from the 
north of us and had stopped at the school to see 
the doctor. He had done for the child what he 
could, but saw there was absolutely no hope for 
recovery. Because it was cold and stormy the 
parents sought shelter, and knowing about us 
and having heard of our Camp-house, they 
came to us. 

I called in my interpreter, hardly knowing 
what to do. I could see that there was nothing 
I could do for the child, but was afraid she 
might die, and I did not like to have her die in 
that room. That would henceforth bar the 
room for the Indians, as they dare not enter a 
room where some one has died. Not wanting to 
frighten the parents more than necessary by ask- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 207 

ing them to come into our house, and trying to 
help them all we could, I decided that George 
should lie down in my study, so that they could 
call him as soon as they thought they needed 
assistance. George was then to call me, so we 
could help and, if possible, carry the child out 
before it expired. 

About midnight George called me, but the 
child had already died. She had vomited and 
died before the parents realized it. The par- 
ents, of course, felt the loss of the child very 

much I the fact that my Camp-house was 

now a c in di hi gan (demon's house). But 
knowing that even this event came not by 
chance, but by the wise Providence of God, I was 
soon consoled. 

The parents said it was customary to bathe 

their dead, and would hke a vessel with some 

water. I got them a pail with water, and in the 

meantime they asked George where they could 

spend the rest of the night, because they would 

not dare to stay where they were. He said they 

could come to his house, so they started to carry 

their belongings over there. Because they did 

this before the child was bathed, it set me to 

thinking, and I asked if they did that purposely. 

Yes, I was told, if once the child is bathed they 

will not dare to use what was present, nor enter 

the room again. Then I asked if bathing the 

corpse in that room would pollute the room 

more than only dying in it. They said it would. 



208 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

SO I forbade the bathing there, and suggested we 
go to the barn. This was readily accepted. Be- 
fore we left the room, the father took a string 
of beads from his neck, washed them and put 
them on the child. 

In the barn the father loosened the child's hair 
and combed it was a bunch of dry prairie grass. 
Then her clothes were removed, and while 
George poured the water on the body the father 
washed it. He then asked us to dress it, for he 
would rather not touch the corpse again. They 
then walked to George's house, never to see the 
child any more, and probably never to come to 
our Mission House again. At any rate, not 
to enter the "kin." Oh, the darkness of 
heathendom ! 



Great is the privilege but also heavy the re- 
sponsibility to the bearer of light into this dark- 
ness, the Messenger of Good Tidings to those in 
deepest sorrow and trouble ! How little we can 
truly realize the awful misery of heathendom in 
its idolatry and superstition unless we come into 
personal contact with it and see it from day to 
day! Being in the midst of it, we understand 
better than ever before Paul's request, expressed 
in the words, "Brethren, pray for us !" 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 209 

X. 

MEDICAL MISSIONS 

\ TO ONE at all acquainted with the conditions 
■'• ^ that prevail in the non-christian world, 
among those without the knowledge of the only 
true and living God, whether they live within 
the boundaries of our own beloved United States 
or on some foreign shore, will for one moment 
doubt the great need of Medical Missions. Only 
they, who read very superficially, will fail to 
realize that this is not a self-imposed task, 
but a distinct command of the Lord, as 
well as one of the credentials of the christian 
religion, which is a religion of mercy, and its 
messengers are sent forth on errands of healing 
and help to all the man as well as to all men. 
The one supreme purpose of Missions, however, 
whether evangelistic, educational, industrial or 
medical, is to present Jesus Christ, the Son of 
God, the Saviour of the world, by preaching His 
Gospel, by teaching the truth, by promoting thru 
every worthy and effective means the welfare of 
this present life, and by ministering in mercy 
healing to the sick and indigent. The medical 
missionary must therefore also be first a mis- 
sionary and then a doctor, and to the degree that 
this is verified, will the cause of Medical Missions 
come to its own in the mind and heart of the 



210 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Church at home and on the field. It may not 
stand first, but it does stand second, to the work 
of evangelization. Medical service is and must 
always continue to be a preparer of the way for 
the message of salvation. And every student of 
the history of Missions knows that more than 
any other department of service Medical Mis- 
sions has been instrumental in disarming fanat- 
icism with its consequent prejudice and super- 
stition. Many a heart touched by this service of 
love and mercy has been opened for the glad 
tidings of Him Who loved us and gave Himself 
for us and sent His servants to minister unto us. 

Conscious of the command, and realizing the 
great need, and convinced of the help it would 
afford in bringing the Gospel to the Navahoes, 
our Church in the year 1910 established a Hos- 
pital, for medical service to the Indians, at Re- 
hoboth, the most centrally located of our mis- 
sion posts. It was a matter of gratitude and sat- 
isfaction to all concerned when the Board an- 
nounced the acceptance of its appointment by 
Dr. Wilbur P. Sipe, as our first medical mis- 
sionary to the Navahoes. This brother entered 
upon the service full of love and enthusiasm, be- 
ing, w^ell acquainted with the needs of those 
whom he was called to serve. But what a hard 
and sad blow it was to all those who had the 
Mission and also his work upon their hearts, 
when in the following j^ear the Lord called him 
home and to higher service. Our loss was his 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 211 

gain, and in humble christian submission we 
bowed as a Church to His will, Whose work it 
was and Who always knows what is best and 
docs what is to the highest interests of His cause. 

The first trained nurse, sent to assist the doc- 
tor in the Hospital work, was Mrs. R. Van der 
Veen Heusinkveld. Expecting to work under 
the supers'ision of the doctor, she found herself, 
when arriving on the field, face to face with the 
task of "carrying on" alone. The Indians, not 
as yet accustomed to come to the Hospital, she 
was compelled to carry the service to them 
in their hogans. Not in the least daunted by the 
unexpected change of plans, she began to train 
one of the Indian girls as an assistant, and to- 
gether they went up and down the Navaho coun- 
try bringing aid and relief where it was re- 
quired, and soon they were able to persuade a 
few that could not be cared for in their homes to 
come to the Hospital for treatment. Before 
leaving the field and her work, Mrs. Heusink- 
veld had the signal pleasure of seeing her faith- 
ful assistant graduate as the first Navaho trained 
nurse and take up field work among her own 
people. This was Mrs. Christine Hood Whipple, 
and a year later Mrs. Fannie Becenti Denitdele 
passed the required examination and graduated 
as an accomplished nurse, highly respected by 
both the Indian and white patients. 

The second physician to be in charge of the 
Rehoboth Hospital and its field work was 



212 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Dr. C. J. K. Moore. A man especially well- 
equipped for this service and one who, under- 
standing the peculiar needs of the Navahoes, 
sought in every way to help them. During his 
stay the Hospital constantly gained in reputa- 
tion among the Indians and whites. After the 
departure of our first trained nurse, who for a 
short time had been assisted by Mrs. B. Simme- 
link van Pernis, Mrs. Sena Voss Hoogezand, a 
graduate of the well and everywhere favorably 
known Hackley Hospital of Muskegon, Mich., 
took charge of the Hospital service, and for some 
time after Dr. Moore resigned, she, with the In- 
dian help and frequent visits by Dr. L. S. Hui- 
zenga from Tohatchi, kept the ever-increasing 
work going. Our third medical missionary was 
the present one in charge. Dr. J. D. Mulder, and 
he was first assisted by Miss Maude Koster, R. N., 
who, to the great regret of all, was compelled to 
resign because of ill-health, and her consecrated 
services will never be forgotten; at present the 
doctor's assistants are the Misses Jeanette Lam, 
R. N., and Fanny M. Van der Wal. What the 
status of the service is at the present time can be 
gleaned from the presentation of the work 
by the doctor. If the churches understood the 
extreme need for increased hospital facilities, 
then surely all those which have not yet made a 
special contribution for this department would 
do so immediately. One day's visit at the Mis- 
sion would convince the most prejudiced and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 213 

convert him from a cold critic into a most en- 
thusiastic supporter of Medical Missions. 

To meet Dr. Mulder, our one medical mis- 
sionary to the Indians, is to meet a man who 
loves his work and is constantly on the lookout 
for ways and means by which the Hospital and 
field service can be improved. He is highly re- 
spected by his fellow-physicians of Gallup and 
those of the neighboring Government schools. 
He is continually called by them for consulta- 
tion in difficult cases, and is often asked to assist 
in operations. The Government has also rec- 
ognized the value of his services when it re- 
quested him to take charge of the medical work 
at the Tohatchi Government Boarding School in 
the absence of a regular physician at that place. 
It behooves us as a Church to appreciate the 
services of this consecrated worker, and remem- 
ber him, with his assistants and their labors, in 
our prayers. 



214 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

MEDICAL WORK AMONG THE NAVAHOES 



J. D. MULDER, M. D., Rehoboth, N. M. 

THE SICK among the Navahoes are still to a 
very great extent taken care of by their own 
medicine men. Very few patients come to me 
that have not first been under their care. The 
method of these priest-doctors is the same to- 
day as for ages past. Disease is attributed to 
evil influence. The diagnosis of a case consists 
in finding the reason why harm has come to an 
individual. The medicine man therefore cares 
little about the history of the patient's trouble 
nor does he examine him; he depends on divi- 
nation. Some consult the stars, others say they 
are inspired by wind and breeze or while shak- 
ing the hands over the sick. As to the cause of 
the trouble, it may be that the patient has some 
years ago harmed a sacred animal, as a coyote, 
bear or rattlesnake; if threatened with blindness 
he has probably looked upon his mother-in-law, 
granted he has one. As to the treatment, this 
consists in ceremonies carried out in the mi- 
nutest detail, consisting of chants, sand-paint- 
ings, dances, sacrifices, etc., together with the 
administrations of herbs, the latter only to such 
an extent and of such a nature as the special 
chant demands. 

That such a theory of disease is harmful to 
both individual and tribe need scarcely be men- 
tioned. There is no contagion ! Think of a 



216 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

room ten to fifteen feet in diameter crowded 
witli people, no ventilation, except a hole in the 
roof for the escape of smoke. At the farther end 
of this room sits a patient suffering from small- 
pox. The priest-doctor has painted his naked 
body black, one white pustule after the other 
crowds its way to the surface, however, making 
him a strange spectre. They are holding a 
seven-day chant over this man. Relatives and 
friends come from far and near, to be present or 
to partake of the ceremony. Before two weeks 
have passed the disease has spread in all 
directions. 

What about injuries? Last fall a Navaho boy, 
living near the Black Mountains, some eighty 
miles from Rehoboth, met with an accident. A 
broken bone protruded thru torn muscles. 
Medicine men were engaged to heal this wound. 
One after the other, however, finished his 
prayers, sand-paintings and administration of 
medicine without avail. Days and months the 
child lay and suffered. In March, after long 
consultation, the child was finally taken to a 
hospital some forty-five miles distant. Here I 
was called to amputate the leg, the bone of 
which was destroyed for over six inches. Thru 
God's Providence his life was spared, and in a 
short time, although maimed, he was relieved 
and happy to return home. 

There is a variety of human ills which above 
all others demands our attention. A short time 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 217 

ago an old trader told nie, he at that moment 
could tell me of ten confinement cases in his 
vicinity that had died without aid or where un- 
trained hands mutilated the patient to such an 
extent that death resulted. "In sorrow thou 
shalt bring forth children" is also the rule 
among the Indian. The squaw, accustomed to 
hardships, may stoically show no sign of pain, 
she suffers; and is subject to as many abnormal- 
ities as her white sister. One night I was called 
to visit an Indian camp some thirty-five miles 
from here. A woman had been in labor for 
days. Four medicine men were sending up their 
prayers, but in vain. Not many more hours and 
she would have been taken from her home to 
some desolate spot to die. After a counsel last- 
ing almost for hours, I was finally permitted to 
afford relief. 

It is scarcely necessary to speak of the terrible 
eye disease Trachoma, which causes untold suf- 
fering and much blindness, nor of the white 
plague. Tuberculosis, which demands many 
lives, to show the need of medical work among 
the Navahoes. 

What is done to help the Navaho medically? 
The work of Government and Church combined, 
does not nearly suffice, to care for the sick of 
some thirty thousand Navahoes wandering over 
large areas. Our Church maintains a Hospital 
of sixteen beds, which, God willing, will soon be 
enlarged. Navahoes are here cared for free of 



218 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

charge; medicine is given or they are entered as 
patients. The Hospital force consists of doctor, 
nurse, assistant nurse and Navaho girls who are 
taught to be of service among their people. The 
capacity of this Hospital often exceeds the num- 
ber of beds. Our maxim is, "As long as there is 
floor space we have room." Last spring it hap- 
pened several times that we had more patients 
on the floor than in bed. In a city hospital it is 
easy to refuse admittance; here it is often prac- 
tically impossible. Too sick to return, we must 
admit, no matter if our beds are taken or the 
disease is contagious. They come with all the 
ills human being are subject to, from imaginary 
to real. They come requesting us to remove 
from their body some imaginary monster, they 
come to get relief for toothache, no longer fancy- 
ing the Navaho way of having the tooth knocked 
out with hammer and peg. I also travel by car 
and horse as much as time permits, to care for 
sick in their hogans. It is, however, impossible 
to follow up these cases, as they are spread over 
such large areas. 

Their willingness to be aided is, thru God's 
grace, increasing. Some five years ago it was 
difTicult to persuade them to come to the Hos- 
pital. People had died there, and a house in 
which people died is supposed to be inhabited 
by evil spirits. Patients had gone home, telling 
the wierdest tales of sounds heard and spirits 
seen. Add to this the hatred of the medicine 



IN HOGAN AND PUE-BLO 219 

men whose religion and income are at stake, 
and it is no wonder that a strange doctor did 
not readily gain their confidence and a tabooed 
Hospital did not attract them. But superstition 
is on the wane. The power of the priest-doctor 
is questioned. Patients healed from various ail- 
ments go as far as seventy miles in all directions, 
and although the medicine men invariably as- 
cribe their recovery to some chant held in the 
past, they are losing ground. The Navaho also 
becomes more daring to face the medicine man. 
Not long ago I was asked by a young, unedu- 
cated Navaho to follow him into his hogan and 
examine his two sick children, while a chant 
was in progress. A deed usually considered a 
sacrilege. To show how anxious they are at 
times to secure our services is well illustrated by 
a family who three times sent a messenger sev- 
enty miles, requesting me to come and give aid 
to an injured shepherd girl. Conditions in the 
Hospital forced me to postpone the trip for 
several days. 

The fact, however, that we are gaining ground 
may not put us off our guard. Superstition still 
hangs as a shroud over these people. And no 
sooner are the bonds loosened, but Satan stands 
ready to cast the heathen, awakening from sup- 
erstition, into agnosticism and doubt. The Nav- 
aho needs above all the knowledge of the true 
God, and medical work, no matter how greatly 
needed, can only be of real and lasting value if 
it aids in spreading the Gospel. 



220 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

XI. 
EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS 

AS WE USE the terms and speak of "Medi- 
cal Missions," and "Evangelistic Missions," 
so also of "Educational Missions," remembering, 
however, that each constitutes a part of the one 
great enterprise, in which Divine and human 
forces co-operate for the evangelization and 
christianization of the world. Educational Mis- 
sions is in truth a misnomer the moment we 
mean by the term the establishment and propa- 
gation of educational work and educational in- 
stitutions separate and apart from the other de- 
partments of missionary activity. Only when 
the vital, inseparable relations of all the parts 
to the whole are recognized, can we estimate the 
character and value of each part. The one great 
purpose is and always must remain the bring- 
ing of the Gospel of light and life to those grop- 
ing in darkness and lost in the realm of death. 
Consequently the schools established among the 
heathen, whether they be grammar schools or 
are institutions of higher learning, must be 
per se schools of Christian instruction. Not only 
must the atmosphere of the school-room and on 
the campus be christian, but all the branches of 
education must be taught in the light of that 
Word, which is presented as the one and only 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 221 

infallible rule and measure of faith and life, "a 
lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path." 

It can hardly be true that the Church has ful- 
filled its mission to the world lying in darkness 
when it has witnessed once or twice of the love 
of God manifested in the gift of His Son, Who 
came not to condemn but to save that world. 
The mind of the heathen child born in the dark- 
ness of ignorance, sorrow, and sin, is in no w'ay 
able to grasp the blessed truths of the Gospel, 
even if it be able to understand the language 
in which these truths are presented. As a nec- 
essary preparation for the presentation of the 
christian truths, therefore, the mind must first 
be developed and the child taught to think in 
terms of the christian faith. We do thus for our 
own children, born under the light of the Gos- 
pel, much more should we do it for the children 
born in heathen darkness, although it may prove 
to be a costly and tedious work. 

Such an educational institution for Christian 
instruction was established and opened for the 
children of the Navahoes at Rehoboth, N. M., by 
the Christian Reformed Church, in 1903. After 
different ones, in conjunction with other work, 
had taught the children as best they could, the 
first regular teacher was Miss Cocia Hartog 
(Wezeman), of Chicago, 111. She came in 1906 
and entered upon the work wdth the enthusiasm 
of faith and consecration. During the five years 
she taught at this school the children certainly 



222 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

made remarkable progress, and it was with keen 
regret that her resignation, because of ill-health, 
was accepted. Her successor was Mr, (now Dr.) 
G. Heusinkveld, of Alamosa, Colo. He came in 
1911 and he left in 1914 for the purpose of pur- 
suing a medical course. Although his stay was 
comparatively short, nevertheless he left his im- 
press upon the institution. In the meantime the 
number of scholars increased to such an extent 
that a second or additional teacher was required 
for the beginners and primary grades. Miss 
Carrie Ten Houten, of Holland, Mich., served in 
this capacity for several years, being in turn suc- 
ceeded by Miss C. Van Koevering. The third 
Principal was Miss Kathryn Venema (Sikkcma), 
of Lucas, Mich., who, to the regret of the Board, 
only remained two years, during which time she 
gave evident proof of her ability to understand 
the Indian to apply the required means for his 
mental and intellectual development. The next 
one to take up the work was Miss Nellie De Jong, 
of whom it must be said that she was especially 
qualified for the teaching of Indian children, 
having had a few years of actual experience at 
Zuni, N. M., and then a special course at the Nor- 
mal School at Flagstaff, Arizona, with this pur- 
pose in view. Ill-health was once more the rea- 
son to cause this worker to lay down a work 
dear to her hear.t The number of scholars had 
now been increased to a hundred, and it was 
felt that because of the peculiar needs of Indian 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 223 

children, it was not possible for two teachers to 
do justice to the work, consequently it was de- 
cided to add a third teacher. At present, there- 
fore, the teaching-statf at this Mission Boarding 
School consists of the Misses Renzina Stob, Prin- 
cipal and teacher of the higher grades, Nellie 
Lam, for the intermediates, and Jeanette Van 
der Wei^p for the beginners and primary grades. 
To these three consecrated workers the hundred 
children of this Boarding School are entrusted 
for their education and training, and we are as- 
sured that it would be a diificult matter to find a 
trio of more consecrated workers at any Mission. 
In 1908 another educational institution was 
established, namely, the Mission Day School at 
Zuni, N. M., for the children of the Zuni Indians. 
Miss Nellie De Jong, afterwards Principal at 
Rehoboth, as stated above, was the first teacher 
at this place. The facilities were very poor and 
inadequate, and since the children lodged at 
their own homes, it was assuredly no sinecure to 
be crowded with these children for a whole day 
in a little, poorly-ventilated school-room. The 
progress made, however, was beyond expecta- 
tion and the work of the teacher was highly ap- 
preciated. Different circumstances made a 
change of teachers necessary also at this place 
from time to time, so that we count amongst 
those who during the past decade taught in this 
Mission Day School at Zuni the following daugh- 
ters of our Church: the Misses Alice Aardsma 



224 



BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



(Hoekstra), Anna Van der Riet, Dcna Brink 
(Van der Wagen) and Sophia Fryling. These 
five teachers of Zuni have done a noble work, 
and they can feel assured that as it was done in 
the Lord, according to His Word it shall not be 
in vain. 

A third institution for educational work, but 
of a higher order, was established at Tohatchi, 
N. M., when the Rev. L. P. Brink was missionary 
at that place (see the Chapter on "The Pioneer 
Missionary). The purpose of this school for 
higher education and training was to prepare 
for Gospel work among the Navahoes by the 
Navaho. "Every race in the end must be ele- 
vated by its own educated leadership," said a 
wise leader of his people. The discovery, train- 
ing and using of a native christian leadership is 
therefore a worthy goal of missionary endeavor 
in any field. It is perhaps true that we have 
been more remiss in not urging this in season 
and out of season, in our Indian, work than we 
should have been. That the Indian is also cap- 
able of leadership no one really acquainted with 
him will question or deny, but most emphat- 
ically it must be said, if he is going to succeed 
then he must assuredly have the right kind of 
training. Much thought has been given to this 
matter not only by the men on the field, but also 
by the members of the Board at home. A Union 
Training School for the whole of the Navaho 
tribe and country was proposed, and accepted 



i 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 225 

by our Church , but evidently rejected by the 
other Churches laboring among the Navahoes, 
for it has not been realized. The latest decision 
in the matter is, the establishment of a Training 
School at Rehoboth, or rather, the gradual de- 
velopment of a Training School out of the pres- 
ent Boarding School. Personally we question 
the wisdom of this latest decision. This school 
for the training of young men for Gospel work 
among their own people should be, in our esti- 
mation, located at such a place where it would 
be possible for the students to raise the greater 
part of the necessary provisions for the table, 
and thru employment, during a part of their 
time, provide for their clothes and tuition. This 
School should be a self-sustaining institution, if 
at all possible, and we believe that if it is cor- 
rectly located, it can be that to a great extent at 
least. But then it must by no means be located 
at Rehoboth, even with all the advantages which 
this place otherwise, and very naturally, offers. 
The following sketch, written by our Reho- 
both Principal, is one of great interest. It takes 
and places us, as it were, in the very atmosphere 
of this Mission School on the opening day of a 
new year. It makes our hearts go out in real 
sympathy to those little ones who are there for 
the first time, being real shy, they are frightened 
by all they see, and at night, when no one sees 
them, they sob themselves to sleep because they 
feel so lonesome and forlorn without the others 



226 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

who arc always with them in the hogan. It gives 
us a httle ghmpse, a peep, as it were, into the 
very mind, heart, and soul of the Indian child. 
Read it carefully, and then remember the 
School, with its teachers and scholars, in your 
prayers and with your gifts. 



EDUCATIONAL WORK AMONG THE 
NAVAHOES 



MISS RENZINA STOB, Principal-Teacher at 

Rehoboth, N. M. 

A NEW school year has begun. Everywhere 
•**■ are signs of life and activity. Groups of 
children stand about rehearsing the events of 
the happy vacation, now past. Here and there 
are little new-comers. How strange the new 
world at school is to them! Everything is 
strange, new faces, large buildings, the first bath, 
the complete set of "white people's clothes," the 
heretofore unheard- of duties, such as making 
beds, setting tables, etc., and going to a room 
with many other children who sit perfectly still 
and do just as one, called the "School-lady" bids. 

Reing confronted by a new class of little be- 
ginners fresh from heathendom, one wonders 
what the development of the raw material in 
hand will bring forth. 

They look about in bewilderment. Many are 
mere babes. Their parents have brought them 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 227 

to receive an education. Very early do they ex- 
perience the pangs of leaving home and dear 
ones! For often they do not see their relatives 
again until the summer vacation. Many a little 
one sobs itself to sleep the first week, and the 
Matron, like the "Old Woman" who lived in a 
shoe, must needs be a mother to all. 

To teach minds unaccustomed to looking be- 
yond their monotonous surroundings, to think, 
to reason, to apply the knowledge gained, to en- 
large the vision, to open the windows of the 
soul, to instill high and pure purposes and ideals 
in life, to train for useful citizenship, and fit 
them for service for their people that they may 
be a blessing to them temporally and spiritually, 
these are some of the ideals of the educational 
department. A gigantic task, indeed! A task 
that well-nigh overwhelms one with a sense of 
responsibility and inability. The security of 
God's promise, "My grace is sufficient," is, how- 
ever, a powerful stimulus to spare no eftort to 
at least try to reach these ideals. 

In accepting new scholars, preference is 
usually given to those six or seven years of age. 
They are then less shy and difiident, and will 
respond more readily than those older. The 
first year is spent in getting the child somewhat 
acquainted with the language. To gain this end 
all kinds of ingenious methods and devices are 
resorted to. Objects are used whenever possible 
to teach new words, and short sentences acted 



228 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

out. Little Language Games are played and 
simple songs and verses learned. We have a 
few w^hite children of the workers attending 
school, and they fairly bubble over with eager- 
ness to answer Teacher's questions when their 
little dusky comrades seem slow. 

At our Rehoboth Mission Boarding School wc 
have all grades, from one to eight inclusive. The 
Government Schools usually go no higher than 
the fourth or fifth grade. Then the more ad- 
vanced ones are transferred to some large non- 
reservation Government School, such as Sher- 
man Institute in California, Phoenix, or Albu- 
querque. There they complete the eighth or 
tenth grade and learn a trade. 

All Indian children, both of the Government 
and Mission Schools attend school just half a 
day, and are detailed to a particular kind of 
work the other half. Thus the teachers do not 
have the same classes for both sessions. The 
school hours are usually from 8:30 to 11:30 
a. m., and from 1 : 00 to 4: 00 p. m. Since they 
go just half a day at a time, from one and a half 
to two years are generally required to complete 
a grade. 

It takes some time to really get acquainted 
with these children and gain their confidence. 
Therefore, especially, is a frequent change of 
teachers so detrimental to the school. So much 
time is lost in trying to find out what the pupils 
know, for unlike white children, they do not 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 229 

like to let the teacher see how much they know; 
on the contrary, one often gets the mipression 
that they wish to let their teacher see how little 
they know. 

Their written work is often better than their 
oral. One reason for this is their extreme sen- 
sitiveness. They feel at a loss to know which 
words to use and hesitate for fear they will be 
ridiculed by the others. One of our fifth graders 
in using a spelling-word, "confusion" in a sen- 
tence, said, "The cooks are confusion the flour." 
He had worked in the kitchen and evidently was 
speaking from experience. 

English, naturally, is emphasized in all the 
grades, especially oral reproductions of stories, 
conversation lessons, rapid drills in questions 
and answers and composition work. One can- 
not be too simple in talking to them. Things 
which are so common to us as to need no ex- 
planation whatever, are often entirely without 
the pale of their comprehension. 

On the whole, the Navaho children arc good 
memorizers. They often memorize parts of 
their lesson when they think they will be called 
on to recite. Of course, it is at once detected 
by the teacher as the strangest words and sen- 
tences are forthcoming at times. Our little be- 
ginners learned a new song one day and sang it 
at a social gathering. The workers could hardly 
. keep back a smile as our little sunbeams were 

1 singing lustily, "Jesus wants me for a sunbean." 



230 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Arithmetic is difficult for most of the children, 
particiUarly tliose problems which call for deep 
thinking. It is a subject, however, which they 
will ap])ly themselves to more diligently than 
some others, for the older ones, especially, 
realize the value of it. They are intensely prac- 
tical, and when they see something which thej' 
think will come in handy after leaving school, 
it is quickly grasped. One of our big boys re- 
marked about Geography that he didn't see 
much value in it. He said he guessed the train 
would be glad to take him w^herever he wished 
to go. Since drawing is natural to many of 
them, they draw excellent maps and take great 
pride in them. They have been unusually inter- 
ested in China since the missionaries' visit here. 

Story-telling time is always a welcome one. I 
think it would be hard to find a more attentive 
child anyhwere than the Navaho. A true story 
is his favorite. Little lessons in History, Hy- 
giene, and Current Events are given in this 
form, and proves very satisfactory. We told 
them one day about the air flight from London 
to Australia as described in the "Geographical." 
They listened breathlessly, and after supper, 
when visiting the dormitory after the boys were 
snugly tucked in, they asked the Matron to 
please ask us to tell them the story again. Such 
instruction forms a valuable part of their edu- 
cation, for since their horizon is so limited, they 
must be brought in touch with the activities of 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 231 

the world; an interest must be created so that 
there will be a desire to know more about them 
and thus an incentive for reading be produced. 
Rev. Brink's stereopticon talks on various coun- 
tries and miscellaneous subjects of interest are 
very helpful toward this end, too. 

Part of the educational training is the Friday 
afternoon Assembly meeting, when all the pu- 
pils gather in the chapel from 3: 45 to 4: 15, and 
a short program of recitations, songs, and read- 
ings is rendered by the pupils in turn. This is 
done to train them to speak up promptly and 
loudly and prepare them to take part in 
programs. 

We sometimes hear the remark, "Oh, those 
little Indians sit so quietly, surely a teacher does 
not have to be such a good disciplinarian." They 
are sadly mistaken. These children are adepts 
in doing things so slyly and unsuspiciously that 
it takes a very alert teacher to find who the of- 
fender is. They can be very stubborn at times 
and have an almost indomitable will. If, how- 
ever, they know that the teacher means what he 
says, and will have obedience, one's troubles are 
considerably lessened. 

Another strong characteristic of Indian chil- 
dren is their keen observing powers. They study 
one's character carefully and are quick to take 
advantage of any weakness they detect. 

Does the Navaho appreciate an education? 
Seemingly not in many cases. Yet one often gets 



232 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

an encouraging word from some older scholar 
or an ex-pupil. They are slow to admit the fact 
but more and more do we see that they do 
realize the necessity of an education, and appre- 
ciate it. The future of their race depends upon 
the youth and will be what the educated ones 
make it. It is as one of our seventh grade schol- 
ars stated in a Composition today on "The Nav- 
aho," "The future of the Navaho race depends 
on the Navaho children at school." 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 233 

XII. 
INDUSTRIAL MISSIONS 

INDUSTRIAL, trades, or vocational schools are 
not new in the educational realm. In our 
own United States we have some wonderful in- 
stitutions of this character. Institutions which 
stand as a lasting monument to the memory of 
their honored founders. One that immediately 
comes to our mind is Hampton Normal and 
Agricultural Institute of Virginia, founded for 
"the instruction of youth in the various common 
school, academic, and industrial branches, the 
best methods of teaching the same and the best 
mode of practical industry in its application to 
agriculture and the mechanical arts." The 
founder and father of Hampton, an Institute for 
Negroes and Indians, was General Samuel Chap- 
man Armstrong, son of Richard and Clarissa 
Armstrong, missionaries to Hawaii, where Sam- 
uel was born in 1839. He believed that these 
primitive people, Negroes and Indians, should 
be taught to become self-reliant and indepen- 
dent, to realize that labor is not disgraceful; and 
thru hard work to keep out of mischief. This 
education must be earned by the pupils as far 
as possible thru their own efforts and after 
graduation they must be able to support them- 
selves by the work of their hands as well as by 



234 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

their brains. Mental and manual training must 
be combined. These were the methods he fol- 
lowed and the results accomplished at Hamp- 
ton have astounded all who have read the story 
of General Armstrong's life, struggles, and 
triumphs. Another wonderful example, to men- 
tion no others, of what can be accomplished in 
this line is the Tukegee Normal and Industrial 
Institute of Tuskegee, Alabama, of which Booker 
T. Washington, a graduate of Hampton, was the 
founder. Every one interested in this matter 
should not neglect to read that intensely inter- 
esting autobiography of Washington, Up from 
Slavery. 

Naturally, since Missions bring men and 
women into contact with primitive peoples, the 
question of industrial improvements also comes 
to the front. Especially in our present day much 
is being said and written on this subject, for it is 
true in many respects, today is a day of social 
and industrial problems at home and abroad. 
Yerily, we need to be exceedingly careful with re- 
spect to the extreme emphasis that is placed 
upon these matters, so that there seems to be but 
a seeking of social and industrial regeneration 
rather than a spiritual one, nevertheless we may 
not ignore this department of missionary activity 
altogether. The Christian Reformed Church 
also came to realize this very soon after it be- 
gan its work among the Navahoes, who indeed 
are known for their persistent primitiveness. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 235 

The Missionary Rev. John Butler, of Tuba, 
Arizona, a few years ago described this primi- 
tiveness of the Navahoes as follows : "If we look 
at the Navaho in the care of his flocks or in his 
farming operations, the most crude and primi- 
tive methods are used generally from start to 
finish. Many instances among the people of this 
tribe are in evidence where the Indian has had 
considerable training in the use of modern im- 
plements for soil culture and general farm v. ork, 
and which he could obtain did he wish them, but 
his appreciation of their value to him still lies 
unawakened, and he continues on in the old way 
of preparing the soil. In a leisurely way he sits 
down every seven to ten feet in his field and, 
with a stick sharpened at one end, prepares a 
hole deep enough to reach well down into the 
moist dirt, where he deposits twenty to forty 
grains of corn to a hill. No less primitive is his 
method of irrigating his field. He checkers it 
with very irregular high borders, disregarding 
the contour and undulations of the land to a 
great extent. This often necessitates the flood- 
ing of these enclosures with such a depth of wa- 
ter at some points in order that the high places 
may be covered, that it takes not infrequently 
thirty days or even more for the water to en- 
tirely disappear by evaporation and absorption 
by the soil. Here he certainly has primitive 
methods that need the intervention of kind but 
strong hands to demonstrate to him to econom- 



236 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ically distribute his water supply over a much 
greater acreage and reclaim to him a far larger 
tillage than he now enjoys. 

"True, his country is lacking in some resources 
which are important factors in the initial step 
toward a better environment for him in material 
things. But the Xavaho has enough left, if the 
latent energies, easily discernible in his makeup, 
are once thoroughly awakened and set in mo- 
tion, to draw him out of his primitive environ- 
ment, arrest his nomadic life, locate him in a 
more permanent home, and preserve and give 
latitude to properly exploit the better ideals 
brought back by the returned student, from the 
non-reservation school to the interest of the 
tribe. As it is now, on his return, the student's 
conformity to the white man's way and his little 
growth in new and better ideals, are immediately 
subjected to a continuous withering 'east wind' 
of tribal prejudices and time-honored customs. 
These are intolerant of progress, and the student 
is soon floundering in such uncertainty and dis- 
tress, that in many cases, he dons the tribal 
dress, wraps himself in his blanket, and fully 
identifies himself again with Navaho customs 
and ideals." 

When the Rehoboth Boarding School was iirst 
planned and proposed to the churches, it was 
understood that it was also to be an Industrial 
Institute, self-supporting to a great extent. It is 
now almost two decades since it was established^ 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 237 

and it must be admitted that in the way of in- 
(iustrial training it has not accompHshed niiuh 
nor has it answered in the way of self-support 
to any appreciable extent to the fond hopes and 
expectations of the founders and supporters. 
This is in no way meant as a criticism of the 
work that has been done at this institution or of 
the things accomplished in other lines, but it 
simply is a statement of the facts concerning in- 
dustrial missions. The trouble lies, first of all, it 
seems to us, in the selection of scholars for this 
school. If, instead of enrolling the scholars at 
five and six years of age, older ones were se- 
lected, able to do something toward the obtain- 
ing of their education, more might have been 
accomplished in this line. For instance, we are 
thinking of the possibility of enrolling gradu- 
ates of the Government schools, desiring a higher 
and better training than already received, but 
not willing to be sent to a non-reservation school. 
A second handicap to the accomplishment of 
self-support and industrial training \\c find in 
the selection of the location. To be sure, tlie 
present location has its advantages, great advan- 
tages indeed, for the work that the school is now 
doing, but if it had been located where it would 
be possible to raise most of the i)roduce that 
must now all be bought at high prices, what ;• 
tremendous difference that would make. All 
efforts put forth in the way of farming at the 
present location have been practically failures, 



238 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

and still every one must realize that a school 
farm would be a great asset to the institution. 
In truth it means so much that we would heartily 
favor the purchasing of a school farm, even if it 
must be several miles distant from the school. 
It seems to us that the educational program 
might be so arranged that for agricultural and 
dairy purposes and training, the older boys and 
girls could for certain periods be transferred to 
the farm. Industries also, have not been success- 
ful thus far. At St. Michaels, Arizona, a Catholic 
school, the girls are taught to weave those beau- 
tiful Navaho blankets that are in such great de- 
mand everywhere. Surely, this could also be done 
at Rehoboth. There are still other things that we 
might mention, but we only want to reiterate 
two things that lie at the foundation of the tre- 
mendous success of Hampton and Tuskegee : 
(1) Every scholar or student must, as far as pos- 
sible, thru his own efforts, cover the expense of 
his education and training; (2) The buildings 
needed must be, as much as possible, built by 
student labor. Of the hundreds of buildings 
found at these Institutes, the greater part have 
been entirely erected by the student-body. These 
two things, it seems to us, have been too often 
forgotten regarding Rehoboth School as an 
Industrial Institute, 

Undoubtedly, the several Managers have had 
too much to do and to look after in the way of 
routine details, than that they could give much 




a 
•> 

(d 

4) 



240 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

attention to these all-important things. Man- 
agers at Rehoboth have also changed now and 
then. Student L. S. Huizenga and Mr. Mark 
Bounia were the first to fill this position; after 
them we have had especially Messrs. John Spj'- 
ker and Jacob H. Bosscher with their assistants. 
During the days of Brother Spyker the majority 
of the present buildings were erected, such as the 
Parsonage, Mission House, Doctor's home, School 
and Chapel, and the Boys' and Girls' Dormi- 
tories, the latter two while Mr. Bosscher was 
Manager and Mr. Spyker, builder. During these 
building operations Brother Spyker had the op- 
portunity and it was grasped, to give the older 
boys some practical training in plastering, ce- 
ment brick-making, painting, carpentry, etc. In 
a little machine shop, door and window frames, 
as also tables and stools for the dining-room 
were inanufactured, and at one time some of 
these things were placed on exhibition in Gallup 
to show what the Rehoboth boys could do in this 
line. Now we have always believed that if an 
industrial trainer of that calibre could be per- 
manently employed, much in the way of Indus- 
trial Missions might be accomplished. 

The present Manager, Brother J. H. Bosscher, 
has many years of experience in the manage- 
ment and supervision of the various departments 
of work at Rehoboth. Much has been done by 
him in the way of repairs, and the installing of 
heating and lighting plants, as well as caring for 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 241 

the indispensible water supply for the Mission. 
His work is highly appreciated, and he and his 
assistants are constantly on the lookout for the 
improvement of the Mission. The following, 
kindly, written by him at our request, re- 
veals his heart}^ interest in the work and cause 
entrusted to his care. We should not fail to 
mention, in conclusion, lest any one perchance 
might misunderstand the foregoing impressions, 
that the industrial problems of the Navahoes 
create the most difficult matters to be solved, and 
that it is the least developed of the four depart- 
ments of missionary activity, and consequently 
also the hardest to present. 



INDUSTRIAL EFFORTS AMONG THE 
NAVAHOES 

MANAGER J. H. BOSSCHER, Rehoboth, N. M. 

I7R0M PERSONAL OBSERVATION, we be- 
-'■ lieve that as a whole the Navahoes are in- 
dustrious after their fashion. It is true, several 
of them like to hunt, and some of them are very 
lazy, but when the Government or construction 
companies call for men in this part of the coun- 
try, you will find Navaho workmen filling nine- 
tenths of the bill. They work very well under 
supervision, and are good with a shovel and pick, 
taking as their reward the highest pay of un- 
skilled labor. 



242 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

But why, then, is it necessary to have Indus- 
trial Missions among them? Did you stop to 
think, dear reader, that we are deaUng with a 
heathen people, uneducated, a people of un- 
skilled labor, with a few exceptions, and those 
exceptions are due to Industrial Missions among 
them? I said that these men work well under 
supervision, but they lack the judgment neces- 
sary to take up the responsibility of the work. 
They cannot work systematically on their own 
accord, getting out the most work in the least 
time. At home they work in their own fashion, 
building the hogan, hauling wood, rounding up 
the cattle and horses, if they own any, planting 
a little grain, or freighting for the Government 
or a neighbor trader. Part of this work is but 
of a passing nature; besides, there is not enough 
to go around. Those living farther from civi- 
lized life must find other means of support — a 
w^ay must be found by which they eventually 
can make a living independent of the white man. 
They should be able to build their own home 
more after the civilized pattern, improve their 
stock and care for the soil. They must also learn 
to repair their tools and be more economical. 

At present there is comparatively very little 
done for the youth of the Navaho tribe as far as 
reservation schools are concerned. We know of 
no reservation school where a complete course 
of the various trades is taught. This includes 
Government as well as Mission schools. Sher- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 243 

man Institute, Haskell, the Government schools 
at Albuquerque, Phoenix and Chilocco are the 
only schools we know of that give a thorough 
training in the various trades, such as carpentry, 
harness-making, shoe repairing, painting, and 
tailoring for the boys; domestic science, dress- 
making, etc., for the girls. The Navahoes form 
only a small percentage of attendance at these 
schools, since other tribes are also present. 

The course followed by the reservation schools 
and one which we hope to have in better work- 
ing order by next September, is outlined by the 
Department of the Interior under the direction 
of the Commissioner of Indian Atf airs, in a book 
entitled. Tentative Course of Study for the U. S. 
Indian Schools. In this Uncle Sam outlines the 
primary and pre-vocational, as well as the voca- 
tional course. Where this course is followed, 
each employee, who has a detail of boys or girls 
in his or her charge, must at the same time" in- 
struct them in the work before them, as out- 
lined in the above named Course of Study. This 
does not mean that each one is a competent 
teacher in that line, but each instructs as best 
he can, so the pupil receives a general educa- 
tion in the various lines of work. 

Thus the reservation schools give a more gen- 
eral education, and the non-reservation schools 
specialize in the various trades. Several of the 
pupils, when they reach the third or fourth 
grades in the respective schools, are then trans- 



244 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ferred to the iioii-reservation schools, where they 
have the privilege of specializing in a trade. 

Should you ask the writer what should be done 
for our Navaho pupils, and how to do it, espe- 
cially with a view towards the Rehohoth School, 
as doing the most good with the least amount of 
money, I suggest and am firmly convinced of the 
following: That we should bend our efforts to 
a more systematic general training. Why not 
si)ecialize? Let Jiie explain. We have seen sev- 
eral returned students from the above named 
non-reservation schools, who were taught and 
have mastered some particular trade, and upon 
returning home made no use of it. Why? Be- 
cause they found no place to use it at home, out- 
side of their own family circle. For example, I 
know a shoe- and harness-maker who under- 
stands his trade, but makes no extensive use of 
it, and I know^ of others who have learned 
trades, but they make no use of them, although I 
must admit that those who have been taught 
carpentry seem to find more use for the same, 
where they associate with some contractor and 
work in a city. But why do these returned stu- 
dents not use their trades to any great extent? 
Because the Navaho life does not call for it. 
There are at present not enough educated Nav- 
ahoes who appreciate the progress of civiliza- 
tion, and since the majority live in the same 
way, i.e., building and living in their homes the 
same way as they did forty or fifty years ago. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 245 

they can get along without the white man's way. 
It is true, they have their wagons to repair, etc., 
but why should they consult a blacksmith when 
baling-wire can be found all over the State? This 
is, to say the least, our friend's "first aid." Why 
should he consult a carpenter to build him a 
house with lumber, lath and plaster, when a 
hogan can be built with poles cut within, in most 
cases, less than one thousand feet from the pros- 
pective home, and where Mother Earth, upon 
A^hich his home is built, does very nicely for 
plastering wdthout? The lumber must be bought 
and hauled at least from a Government saw-mill, 
of which there are perhaps three or foio* on the 
whole reservation, or must be bought from 
neighboring cities. Why, then, not live the old 
way, which is better (?) Let me say, however, 
for your encouragement, that when conditions 
are favorable, "kins" or small houses are being 
erected, evidently due to white influence, and 
these homes are supplied in a crude way with 
the white man's furniture. But as long as the 
majority are in favor of the old way of living, 
the specialist will find very little use for his 
trade. Then, my friends, can you imagine a re- 
turned student, who has mastered the painter's 
Irade, going home to apply the brush lo the mud- 
covered hogan ! 

More general, systematic training why ? To 
gradually prepare the way for the experts. This 
work is not one of a few years; it is one of a life- 



246 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

time. Not of one generation, but of two or 
three. First we must make them dissatisfied 
with their present mode of living by teaching 
and suggesting better things. 

In connection with this general training, econ- 
omy should have a prominent place. By a gen- 
eral training we mean that every boy who leaves 
this school should be able to do his own prac- 
tical carpenter work and those ordinary repair 
jobs which are found on any farm, or about any 
home. He should be taught certain things about 
the soil and to keep it up, the use of fertilizers, 
legumes, crop rotation, etc., so that should he 
be able to get hold of a piece of soil, that under 
normal conditions receives moisture enough to 
raise crops, he may be able to take care of the 
same. Then, also, he should be taught that it is 
cheaper to keep a good animal, be it sheep, goat, 
cow or horse, than a scrub; and so we could 
enumerate. The girls also must be taught good 
housekeeping, cooking, sewing, nursing and 
home economy. 

We once more wish to emphasize economy, 
because our Navaho friends do not know what it 
is to be saving. They know what poverty is, for 
they live from hand to mouth. There are very 
few who have any money at all, and should they 
be the happy possessors of some today, tomor- 
row it is all gone. They have either spent it for 
luxuries and what little clothing they need, or 
redeemed a pawned saddle, blanket or a string 



IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 247 

of beads which has been in pawn long before 
they knew where the money was to come from 
to redeem it. They like to borrow, but to pay 
back is like pulling teeth. If you wish to get rid 
of a Navaho, loan him fifty cents. 

Talking about owing reminds me of an inci- 
dent which befell us a few years ago. We had 
on the place an old wagon, known as the Chintee 
(the devil's) wagon, so-called because dead 
people had been carried in it. It stood around a 
long while. Finally an Indian came who wanted 
to buy the same. The moderate price of five 
dollars was argued by the Indian, who said he 
would bring two sheep for the same. Sheep at 
that time were worth about $2.50 to $3.00 per 
head. I told him he could pay in mutton, but if 
the two would not pay for the wagon, he was to 
pay the difference. If there was more I was to 
pay him. When the mutton was weighed there 
was $4.80 worth, so I frankly told him he owed 
us the difference. Now I did not wish to get rid 
of this man, but the result was that he did not 
show up on the Mission grounds for three years. 
Finally he came, asking to bring wood. Having 
made a bargain, and upon settlement, I asked 
him if he remembered the twenty cents he owed 
us for the wagon. He said, "Yes," and smiled; 
upon which we deducted the amount, and now 
he comes whenever he has occasion to call. 

How shall we carry out such a program at our 
School? Let me say that we have been working 



248 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

toward this for some time. The girls, especially, 
have received a training on the above order. 
Each girl is detailed for three months to the dif- 
ferent departments, e. g., the sewing-room, dor- 
mitory, kitchen, laundry, and hospital. The 
smaller boys are also detailed to some of the 
above places, but when they are old enough to 
do the heavier work, they do not shift in detail, 
since there are no various departments like for 
the girls. The boys are instructed by the Man- 
ager and his assistants as best they can, but at 
best it is not what it should be because time is 
lacking. One of these assistants does the team- 
work about the place with the help of boys. 
The other assistant does the general repair work 
wdth a detail of boys, and they get out of it what 
they pick up, but the individual instruction is 
oftentimes lacking because time will not permit, 
and the Manager is kept busy to keep the ball 
rolling. We should have at least another man 
added to our force of men, who is a carpenter 
and capable of instructing therein, as well as 
teaching the boys in repair work of whatever 
nature. 

Now, then, what shall we do in case we have a 
boy who takes a special liking to a certain trade? 
I would say with all my heart, "Give him a 
chance." If we cannot supply the needed edu- 
cation, send him to a school that can, or let him 
do apprentice w^ork with a capable instructor. 
When he returns as a graduate he may not be 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 249 

able to do anything with his trade at home, but 
if his heart is in that work, he will follow it 
where he can, and should he marry an educated 
girl, he can gain a livelihood for both and be an 
influence for the civilizing of the Navaho tribe. 

Leaving the present enrollment, one hundred, 
as it is, it would not be wise for us to attempt to 
specialize in the different trades, since it would 
be too expensive, and, as I mentioned before, I 
think for the present more good can be done by 
giving a general education in vocational training. 
Too expensive, because our School is limited to 
the hundred mark. To enlarge means to change 
the scope of the whole School. It would not be 
wise to hire a blacksmith to teach a class of two. 
Nor would it be wise to entail proportionately 
larger expenses for a few pupils, when ten or 
twelve could be instructed more economically. 

May the Lord grant that the instruction given 
at this School may tend for an eternal blessing 
for the Navaho Tribe. 



250 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

XIII. 

THE NAVAHO RELIGION 

A MONG ALL the different subjects, upon 
^ *• which we were called to gather information 
for this book, we found none quite so difTicult as 
tliat of, "The Navaho Religion." The difBculty 
lay not in a scarcity of material, for there are 
pages and pages to be read upon this matter. But 
the difficulty, for one not able to obtain first- 
Iiand information thru personal observation and 
conversation, lay in the sifting of the material 
and the selecting of that which would not only 
prove suitable for our purpose, but also convey 
the truth and give some kind of an adequate con- 
ception of the subject. We met with contradic- 
tions between authors who we presumed wrote 
with authority, how were we to know which was 
right? Indeed, we were in a quandary to know 
just what to do about this, when our Missionary, 
the Rev. L. P. Brink, offered to write on this 
subject for us. He, who has been on the Navaho 
Beservation practically since 1900, who has been 
engaged in the work of translating the Holy 
Scriptures into the Navaho tongue, who has 
learned to understand and speak the Navaho so 
well that he has been called, "The white man 
that talks like an Indian," who has made a spe- 
cial study of the Navaho Myths, Ceremonies, and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 251 

Religion, he, we admit, is the logical man to en- 
lighten us on this subject. 

A stranger coming among the Navahoes and 
abiding with them for a short time, sees so little 
that reminds him of religion and hears less that 
reveals any particular religious views or concep- 
tions, that some have gone away testifying that 
here was a tribe without any religion. That view 
has been accepted by many and held for a long 
time. But now, when you have read the follow- 
ing article, you will see how mistaken these 
people were. Instead of being a tribe without 
any special religious views and conceptions, they 
are a people with such complicated views that it 
is a most difficult matter for a white man to get 
any adequate conception of them. And still, 
who of us does not realize that a knowledge of 
these religious views is first of all of the highest 
importance and value to any one called to labor 
among the Navahoes in the Gospel? And in the 
second place this knowledge is also highly valu- 
able to all who are interested in sending the Gos- 
pel to these benighted ones. With the conviction 
that the reading of the following will give you 
to realize better than ever before the great need 
of preaching the Gospel to those still in dark- 
ness and superstition, we pray that you read it 
most carefully. 



252 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

THE RELIGIOl S VIEWS OF THE NAVAHOES 



REV. L. P. BRINK, Toadlena, N. M. 

TT will not be possible to do justice to this 
■'• large subject in a short aiticle; the best we 
can do under the circinnstances is to present it 
in brief and fragmentary form, contenting our- 
selves with giving a bare outline. The study of 
the religions of the American Indians presents a 
very wide and very rich field for students who 
delight in ethnology and related subjects. 

We cannot properly speak of the religion of 
the American Indians, any more than we can 
properly speak of the language of these people 
as though it were one, because the American In- 
dians are not one nation, but many nations, 
speaking not one language, but many languages, 
and believing not one religion, but many relig- 
ions. The fact that Navaho and Zuni cannot un- 
derstand each other's language, any more than 
we can understand Chinese or any other tongue 
that is absolutely unrelated to ours, is noi un- 
derstood by many, but it certainly is a fact. 

It requires study and research, both patient 
and prolonged, to obtain knowledge of the re- 
ligion of the Navahoes; the remarks on this sub- 
ject which we present in this paper, have been 
culled during the past twenty years of our ex- 
perience as a missionary. 

Navahoes ordinarily do not speak of their re- 
ligion to outsiders, and as long as even a mis- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 253 

sionary is considered an outsider, he will gain 
little information along these lines. 

Broadly speaking, the Navaho rehgion is poly- 
theistic; they believe in a multitude of super- 
natural beings, some of higher and some of lower 
order, and also that some of them are the bene- 
factors of mankind, and others are quite the op- 
posite. Some of their gods are deifications of 
men, animals, and other creatures; others are 
personifications of (luaUties or occurrences, and 
some cannot be subsumed under either of these 
heads. 

The Navaho name for supernatural beings of 
all kinds is diyini, a word corresponding to our 
word "holy ones," except that the term with them 
is devoid of moral content. The name of divine 
beings of the beneficent kind is yaij-ih, and of 
those that are inimical to mankind is ana-ijay; 
the word ana being the same as enemy. Those 
occupying high rank among the yaij-ih are called 
Hast-yay. 

The sources of our information are varied; 
men like Dr. Washington Matthews and James 
Stevenson have made very careful study of the 
Navaho religion in some of its phases, and have 
left to us the results of their research in writings; 
and personally we have been in contact with the 
Indians themselves, and with a number of the 
best-informed men of the tribe, including many 
prominent medicine men; and we have attended 
many of the sings and ceremonies, both great and 



254 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

small, and gathered information at first hand 
wherever an opportunity presented itself; the re- 
sults have been very informing and exceedingly 
useful in comparing their religion with the 
christian religion, and finding points of agree- 
ment and of disagreement with the sure word of 
revelation. 

The Navaho Indians have many great rites or 
ceremonies, and also lesser rites. The great cere- 
monies are usually of nine days' duration. 
Among these, the ceremony known as the Night 
Chant, takes a very prominent place; another of 
high rank is the Mountain Chant, or mountain 
ceremony. Each of these ceremonies has its 
story, which is steeped in legend and mythology. 
These stories are the chief sources of our knowl- 
edge of the religious conceptions of the 
Navahoes. 

Among the yay-ih a very prominent place is 
taken by a being named Hast-yay-yalh-ti; liter- 
ally the speaking or talking God; he is also called 
Yay-hit-chai, the maternal grandfather of the 
gods. The story of his dealings with mankind, 
as told in the legends, would fill quite a volume; 
and a number of them would not reflect much 
credit to himself. 

Another prominent figure among the gods is 
Hast-yay-o-gahnt : people who understand less 
Navaho than I can, tell you what this name 
means. Dr. Matthews says it means House-god, 
but I am certain that that is not what it means; 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 



255 



he writes it hogan instead of ogahiit; besides I 
have failed to find a single instance where he 
has anything to do with a hogan or house, or 
where he is honored and recognized as a House- 
god. In many of the legends he is accorded the 
place of chief of the gods. 

Another yay-ih of great importance is To-neh- 
nilli, the water-sprinkler, or, as we might say, 
the God of rain. In the ceremonies he is usually 
represented as a clown, playing all kinds of an- 
tics, and in this he might well represent the ac- 
tion of rains in this desert land, where it hardly 
ever rains, but when it docs rain, it pours. 

As fourth in this series we may name Hast- 
ijaij-zhinni, the Black God, also known as the 
God of fire; he is always represented as carry- 
ing a fire-drill, such as the Indians used to have 
before the use of matches became common, and 
it is assumed that his fire-drill will penetrate the 
most impenetrable. These four gods are sup- 
posed to correspond with the four sacred colors, 
namely, white, yellow, blue, and black ; and they 
are referred to as White Body, Yellow Body, 
Blue Body, and Black Body, respectively. In the 
case of the latter two, the correspondence be- 
tween these colors and their position and char- 
acter is readily seen, blue corresponding with 
rain and black with fire. 

The home of the Gods is in the mountains; 
their capitol, if we may call it so, is in the rock- 
walls of Chinlee Canyon, though many other 



256 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

places are also indicated as their homes, and 
often the impression is made that there are gods 
of the same name at many different places, all 
regarded as sacred places by the Navahoes. 

A place of prominence is also given to the 
Spirit-god or Wind-god, who, considered by his 
actions, may be regarded as the God of life. In 
what is related of him, there is much that cor- 
responds to the Spirit of God in Holy Writ. 
There are also a number of lesser deities, wind 
or spirit people, even such as are called little 
wind people, or Breeze-people, who communi- 
cate with humans whose ears are attuned to re- 
ceive their message. 

The gods above mentioned are the creators of 
the human race, or to be more exact, of the First 
Man and the First Woman, from whom the hu- 
man race is descended. The creation of inan is 
presented thus : The divine beings above named 
formed a circle upon earth, a number of lesser 
deities being with them. One of the gods laid a 
buckskin in the middle of the circle, another laid 
two ears of corn, one white and one yellow, upon 
the buckskin, another laid a couple of eagle 
feathers upon the ears of corn, and another cov- 
ered this pile with a buckskin, the Wind-god 
circled around these buckskins and blew around 
and under them, and erelong the eagle feathers 
were seen to move, after a while one of the gods 
stepped up and took away the upper buckskin, 
and lo and behold, the white ear of corn had 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 257 

become a man and the yellow one a woman, and 
the eagle feathers had become hair on their 
heads. 

They were bidden to live together as man and 
wife, and they did so and became the progeni- 
tors of the Navaho race. 

First Man has been raised to the rank of the 
gods; in one of the legends he is represented as 
making drawings upon the sand, arranging the 
stars upon the gi'ound the way he wanted them 
to be set in the sky ; he had the Great Dipper all 
laid out in form, the Orion properly propor- 
tioned and a few of the other combinations of 
stars, when the Evil Genius, Coyote, came along, 
looked at the drawings, finished and unfinished, 
and by blowing a great breath upon them, trans- 
ferred them all to the sky. The stars mentioned 
landed there in proper form, but the others were 
scattered all over the heavens as they are now. 

A place of prominence is also given to the Sun 
God or Sun Bearer, as he is called, and to the 
Moon Bearer. The legends concerning them are 
interesting, but would require too much space 
here. 

Two female divinities also hold high rank in 
the Navaho religion; they are Astsanatlehi and 
Yolhkai-astsan. In Enghsh, the Changing Wo- 
man and the White Shell Woman. Both of these 
were young maidens upon the earth, and were 
visited on the sly by the Sungod at night, and 
became the mothers of the two great Heroes or 



258 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Demigods of the Navahoes, Nayenezganni, the 
Slayer of the AHen Gods, and Tohadzizchinni, 
"Born to the Water." 

These boys grew up without knowing their 
father, because their mothers would not tell 
them who their father was, but in some mys- 
terious ways they found out and made a trip 
to the home of the Sungod, and before they left 
his home they were invested wath powers to 
destroy Monsters who were making a prey of the 
Navaho people. 

Chief among these monsters was one called 
Giant, who lived near Mount Taylor. His chief 
amusement was catching people and eating 
them. With lightning supplied them by the 
Sungod, these boys killed him, and cut off his 
head. His blood flowed in a big stream like a 
river and hardened and became petrified, and 
if today you should visit the country near Mount 
Taylor between Laguna and Grants along the 
Santa Fe Railroad, you will see there enormous 
lava beds, these were once the blood of the 
Monster called Giant, killed by the Demigods. 
And should you travel east of the Reservation 
and come near the Mexican town Cabezon (pro- 
nounced Cab-e-zone), you will find there a 
mountain of black rock, shaped like a human 
head, this is the head of the Monster Giant, slain 
by the Demigods, and should you travel on the 
Reservation anywhere and come across a piece 
of petrified wood, here you have a piece of one 



J 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 259 

of the bones of the Monster Giant, who once 
made havoc with the Navaho race. 

These Heroes slew many more monsters that 
preyed upon the Navaho race, but according to 
Navaho legends there are still Monsters left, who 
were not destroyed, such as Hunger, Thirst, 
Pain, Old Age, Death, these are still raging and 
claiming victims from this people. 

And according to our way of looking at these 
things, there is still the Parent Monsier, the 
Source and Origin of all Evil, Sin, from whose 
stranglehold only the great Redeemer of Man, 
Jesus Christ, can save them. 

The Navahoes treat with superstitious regard 
many animals, birds, and reptiles, such as bears, 
coyotes, owls, bats, snakes, though these beliefs 
are being greatly undermined of late years, and 
the younger people do not share all of the super- 
stitions of the older generation. 

The Navaho gods are represented in visible 
form by sand-paintings, elaborate drawings 
made on the clear sand of the floor of a medi- 
cine lodge, the materials used are ground red 
sandstone, white ashes, ground black charcoal, 
all of these in powder form, and the painting 
is very carefully done by the medicine man, as 
he lets these powders glide from between his 
thumb and forefinger. A complete sand-paint- 
ing requires the work of days by the medicine 
man and his assistants. 

They are also represented in the ceremonies 



260 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

by living men and women wearing masks and 
garments such as the gods are supposed to wear, 
and the dancer wearing these is supposed to 
personify the god his garments represent, to 
such an extent that even tlie prayers of the sicli 
are addressed to him. 

Prayers form a very important part of their 
rehgion, and these are mostly stereotyped forms, 
always repeated in the same way. 

Offerings are made to the gods, usually in the 
form of cigarettes, cut and painted in shape and 
color appropriate to the god worshipped. They 
have songs and prayers for all occasions, for al- 
most every circumstance of life ; they are always 
trying to find religious significance in every- 
thing that varies from the ordinary; and a very 
common fault they find with Americans with 
whom they come in contact is that they have no 
reverence. 

The Light of the Word of God is penetrating 
their world of darkness and superstition. I want 
to close this article by quoting what I heard a 
christian Navaho say in preaching. 

''This world in which we live is like a great 
book which is full of letters that talk to us of 
God, our Maker. Here is the great mountain 
standing before us in his greatness, and saying 
to us as it were, 'God made me.' Here is the 
great pine-tree, with its branching arms, and he 
says, 'God made me.' Here are the rocks, and 
they say, 'God made me.' The animals, bear. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 261 

coyote, horse, cow, sheep, cat, dog, all kinds of 
creatures, and each one of them says 'God made 
me.' And that is the way the whole world, both 
earth and heaven above, from the tiniest crea- 
ture in them to the mightiest, talk to us as it 
were with one voice, and we hear them saying, 
each and eveiy one in accord, 'God made me'." 
Behold in these words, my readers, the first- 
fruits of the Gospel of the Son of God, the dawn- 
ing of the new day in which the Navahoes shall 
know the only True and Living God, and our 
Blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 263 

XIV. 

THE ZUNIES 

HTHE ZUNIES are a Pueblo tribe, residing in 
■*■ one permanent pueblo or village known by 
the same name, Zuni, and located on the north- 
ern bank of what is called the Zuni River. In 
the sunmier, however, they also inhabit the three 
neighboring farming villages of Pescado, Nu- 
tria, and Ojo Caliente. Their tribal name is 
A'shiivi (singular, Shi'ivi), meaning "the flesh." 
The name of their tribal range is given as 
Shi'wona, or Shi'winakunn, which, according to 
Gushing, a man who may surely be considered 
an authority on things Zunian, means "the land 
that produces flesh." Their common name, Zuni, 
is supposed by many to be a Spanish adaptation 
of the Keresan Siinyitsi or Siinyiisa of unknown 
meaning, but often erroneously considered to be 
connected with "the people of long finger-nails." 

The history of the white man's knowledge of 
this people is in many respects very interesting. 
To get an anyway clear outline and conception 
of it, we must start with Cabeza de Vaca, who 
had been treasurer of the ill-fated expedition of 
Panfilo de Narvaez to that part of our United 
States which is now included in the State of 
Florida. As we know from history, this expe- 
dition was a total failure, and none but Cabeza 



264 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

de Vaca and three companions escaped. Realiz- 
ing that his only hope of safety lay in reaching 
the settlements of his countrymen on the other 
side of the Continent, he and his companions 
started on that first transcontinental journey 
over the plains and mountain ranges of North 
American territory. They were imprisoned by 
tribe after tribe, sometimes abused as slaves and 
then again revered and almost worshipped as 
those possessing some shamanistic powers. To 
escape each new emergency and keep on push- 
ing Westward, called for the exercising of almost 
superhuman craft and cunning. What tongue 
of man is able to tell, and where is there a pen of 
man able to describe in any way, the impatience, 
the heart-hunger, the agony of despair of these 
four men during those nine long years of en- 
deavor? For let us not forget, it was no less 
than nine years from the destruction of Nar- 
vaez's ships until the day de Vaca and his 
Avretched companions arrived at Culiacan. They 
were looked upon as men raised from the dead, 
and their stories were, of course, listened to with 
rapt attention. Undoubtedly every one sympa- 
thized with them in the woes and hardships they 
had endured, but the part of their story which 
elicited the greatest interest, and awakened the 
desires and ambitions to the highest pitch was 
Avhen they told of cities that had been described 
to them as lying to the north of the path they 



IN H O G A N AND PUEBLO 265 

were following, and therefore too far out of the 
way for them to visit. 

At once the Spaniards believed that these were 
the long-dreamed-of "Cities of Quivera," and the 
first to set out in order to visit these cities and 
gain definite knowledge and real information 
concerning these people and their cities, was 
Fray Marcos of Niza. He started on this perilous 
journey in 1539, accompanied by a negro named 
Estevanico, one of the companions of Cabeza de 
Vaca, spoken of above. This negro and some 
Indian guides were sent on ahead by the Friar 
to prepare the various tribes, thru whose coun- 
try they had to pass, for his coming, and also to 
report on the prospects of the country. This 
negro carried a bell, which he rang continuously, 
thus causing the Indians not only to gather 
around him out of curiosity, but also out of blind 
superstition to look upon him as a being from a 
different and higher world. This honor and rev- 
erence was too much for Estevanico ; he became 
more and more exacting and cruel, and conse- 
quently by the time he had reached the cities 
sought for, the natives were filled wdth fear. And 
out of fear for him as well as for him whose 
coming he announced, the negro and some of his 
Indian companions were killed. The report of 
this massacre was brought by some of the In- 
dian guides that escaped to Fray Marcos, who 
had pursued his way into the present State of 
Arizona. After placating his Indian followers. 



266 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

who threatened to kill him, the Friar again 
pressed on, viewing the first of the seven cities 
of Cibolg from an adjacent height. Having seen 
the "Kingdom of Cibola," as Moses of old saw 
the Promised Land from the heights of Nebo, 
Fray Marcos returned to report on his findings. 
He represented this "Kingdom," from what he 
had heard from the Indians along the route, as a 
rich and very populous province containing 
seven cities of which Hawikuh (see Rev. Fry- 
ling's article), was the principal one. His glow- 
ing accounts led to the fitting out of an expedi- 
tion the next year, 1540, under the gallant and 
brave Francisco Vasques Coronado. It was in 
the month of February that this expedition set 
forth, with great pomp, circumstance, and blare 
of trumpet. After a strenuous and arduous jour- 
ney, pregnant with both thrilling and harassing 
experiences, Cibola was reached on the 7th of 
July. Then it was that Coronado experienced 
what he thus expressed in words, "The friar hath 
told everything about Cibola but the truth." In- 
stead of finding seven cities, populous, strong, 
and rich in gold, silver, and precious stones, they 
found, according to Castaneda, the historian of 
the expedition (translation by Winship) : "A 
little, unattractive village looking as if it had 
been crumpled all up together. There are man- 
sions in New Spain which make a better appear- 
ance at a distance. It is a village of about 200 
warriors, is three and four stories high, with the 



IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 267 

houses small and having only a few rooms, and 
without a courtyard. One yard serves for each 
section. The people of the whole district had 
collected here, for there are seven villages in the 
province, and some of the others are even larger 
and stronger than Cibola. These folks waited 
for the army, drawn up by divisions in front of 
the village. When they refused to have peace 
on the terms the interpreters extended to them, 
but appeared defiant, the Santiago was given, 
and they were at once put to flight. The Span- 
iards then attacked the village, w^iich was taken 
with not a little difficulty, since they held the 
narrow and crooked entrance. During the at- 
tack they knocked the general down with a large 
stone, and would have killed him but for Don 
Garcia Lopez de Cardenas and Hernando de Al- 
varado, who threw themselves above him and 
drew him away, receiving the blow^s of the 
stones, which were not a few. But the first fury 
of the Spaniards could not be resisted, and iu 
less than an hour they entered the village and 
captured it. They discovered food there, which 
was the thing they were most in need of." 

In this way the world received its first true 
knowledge of Zuni and its most interesting 
people. It remained, however, for men like 
Lieut. F. H. Cushing to make an exhaustive study 
of their mode of hfe and thought. In 1879 he 
was sent by Major Powell, Director of the U. S. 
Bureau of American Ethnology, to live among 



263 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

them and thus gain the aforesaid knowledge 
first-hand, thru personal contact and observa- 
tion. In 1883-1884 Lieut. Gushing pubhshed the 
first articles on the Zunies, and they certainly 
aroused the interest of the whole English-speak- 
ing and civilized world. Since that time many 
other scientific investigators have carried and 
are still carrying on research work in this region. 
Today our knowledge of Zuni and its people is 
fairly accurate. 

After all that has been said in the above Chap- 
ters, the location of the i)ersent Zuni village or 
pueblo must be known to us. We have given 
you the expression of the impression made by 
the first Zuni village upon a Spanish historian in 
1540, allow us now to give you a description of 
the present Zuni village by an author known for 
his wonderfully beautiful descriptions of South- 
western places and scenes, George Wharton 
James. "Yonder is Zuni. Imagine a lot of low, 
squat, square, or oblong, flat-roofed houses of 
adobe, leading the eye from the left to the main 
part of the town, where they are connected one 
with another, in rows and squares and streets, 
piled up one above another, receding in front 
and on both sides as they ascend higher, so that 
they form a series of terraces on three sides, the 
topmost houses being perched six stories high, 
and you have a crude idea of the architecture of 
Zuni. Now add to this the poles of the ladders, 
thrust out from numberless hatchways, the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 269 

quaint chimneys, made of pottery ollas, or water 
jars, the bottoms broken out, piled one above an- 
other, the quaint stairways between the stories 
and on dividing-walls, the open-air bee-hive-like 
ovens, the strings of chili-pepper pods, glistening 
brilliant red in the sunshine, the piles of firewood 
stacked on the housetops, the patient burros 
standing hobbled in the streets, or slowly moving 
to and fro in search of scraps, the little figures 
of naked boys and girls — bronze cupids as one 
has appropriately called them — romping about 
and playing hilariously, as children of the sun- 
loving races always do, and you have a fair gen- 
eral impression of what Zuni is to the casual 
observer." 

In this village and in this people we are at 
present particularly interested, and we desire to 
know more about them. 

The Zuni men are in general not tall, being on 
an average about five and a half feet, but they 
are solidly built and have the appearance and 
carriage of athletes. The Zuni women are even 
smaller than the men, and as long as they are 
young they are not given to be corpulent, but as 
soon as they grow older they also become more 
stout. In general they are fairly good-looking, 
having shapely arms, hands and feet, laugliing 
and tender brown or black eyes, and as to their 
disposition, they are kind and affectionate, 
motherly and compassionate, loyal and helpful. 

The man's dress is usuallv of white calico, and 



270 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

consists of a kind of shirt or jacket and a pair of 
trousers that are sHt from the knee down. He 
wears blue stockings, held up by beautifully 
woven garters, vividly scarlet, while his feet are 
covered with thick-soled buckskin moccasins, 
and around his forehead is tied a handkerchief 
which serves as his head-dress, The majority 
of the men today, however, have discarded the 
native dress for American clothes. The women's 
dress is really picturesque. The gown is made 
of one piece (that of the Navaho of two pieces), 
generally woven by the men, and is of black diag- 
onal cloth, embroidered in blue at the top and 
bottom. This gown usually reaches well down 
to the knees, while a long belt of bright red or 
blue color and wdth fringed ends, is wrapped 
around the waist several times, and as the end 
is tucked under and the fringe falls, it adds a 
very attractive and picturesque touch to the 
whole garment. An indispensable article of at- 
tire for the Zuni woman, indeed without which 
she does not consider herself dressed, but seem- 
ingly useless to the white man, is what is called 
the Bi'toni, usually a piece of calico, but some- 
times simply made of two large or blue bandana 
handkerchiefs sewed together. It is tied in 
front of the neck and is allowed to fall over the 
shoulders, hanging on the back. The legs from 
the knees down, visible below the gown, are 
wrapped around and around 'with wide pieces 
of buckskin, giving them a very heavy and ex- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 271 

ceedingly clumsy appearance, though they set 
off the snialhiess of the feet, which, even as 
those of the men, are clothed in buckskin 
moccasins. 

The personal ornaments of both men and 
women consist of several strings or necklaces 
of shell or silver beads, and between the beads 
are found pieces of turquoise. Bracelets and 
rings are also worn, and earrings especially by 
the men. Leather belts, with silver disks, 
chased or engraved into certain curious and 
striking designs, which are worn around the 
waist, are also highly prized and greatly appre- 
ciated by the Zuni men. The men allow their 
hair to grow rather long, and being kept back 
from hanging in front of the face by the hand- 
kerchief tied around the forehead, it is allowed 
to hang loose and down the back of their heads. 
The hair of the woman is banged all around, 
down almost to the shoulders, and then tucked 
up in front under the forehead to allow the face 
to appear. None dress their own hair. Women 
comb the men's hair and one another's, unless 
a lover or a bridegroom, greatly enamored of 
his bride, sometimes plays the part of a hair- 
dresser. One of the favorite pastimes is to sit 
outside the house and search in the hair for 
vermin, and as each one is found the hair-dresser 
cracks it between her teeth with genuine satis- 
faction. The vermin are not eaten, as has been 
sometimes stated, but they are thrown from the 



272 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

mouth. The front of the hair is allowed, when 
the woman is outside, to fall in heavy bangs over 
the forehead, while the back hair is carefully 
brushed. A bunch of broom-corn, tied about 
four inches from the cut ends, serves a double 
purpose, the longer portion being the broom, the 
shorter the hair brush. We have been informed 
that the women wear their bangs for the same 
reason that Turkish women wear their veils to 
cover their faces. The Zuni says, "It is not well 
for a woman's face to be exposed to the gaze of 
men." 

The Zuni parents also love their children, and 
are very indulgent and kind to them. In com- 
parison with some other tribes, the number of 
children is also large. And when one enters the 
village, he sees among the dogs and donkeys, and 
pigs upon the streets, many children of all sizes 
and of both sexes, but all alike healthy, happy, 
vigorous, and naked until thej^ reacli the age of 
six or seven. Living today as they have lived 
for centuries in their own village, not inter- 
marrying with other tribes, these Zunies have 
assuredly retained a strong individuality, and 
are therefore easily distinguished from neigh- 
boring Indian tribes. 

They are of a friendly disposition and not 
sullen as the Navaho. When you meet them 
they give you a greeting and advance to shake 
hands, and generally ask a few questions to sat- 
isfy their curiosity. To strangers they are also 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 273 

hospitable, and although they may not invite 
you, they expect you to call on them during your 
stay in their midst. They appreciate it greatly, 
and it makes them happy if you, upon your visit, 
will accept their food and eat with them. The 
floor, of course, serves as the table, and a sheep- 
skin for a chair, and you are expected to use 
your fingers to eat with. If in season, you will 
most likely be served with green corn or a mush 
of ground green corn, flavored with certain wild 
herbs. Another dish, often served, is a kind of 
mutton stew, consisting of small cubes of mut- 
ton, squash, beans, corn, and chili-pepper; 
which latter they use very much in their dishes, 
probably having learned that from the Mexi- 
cans. Coffee is also served, sometimes with 
white man's sugar to sweeten it. Naturally the 
canned fruits, etc., displayed by the traders, 
are also finding their way more and more to the 
Zuni table. 

There is one article of food, peculiar to the 
Zunies, and considered by them to be a very 
special delicacy. It is called hewe, or paper 
bread. Upon one of our visits to Zuni we were 
privileged to watch an old mother engaged in 
making this bread. Of cornmeal, very finely 
ground, a very soft batter is made. A large flat 
stone is raised so that a fire can be built under- 
neath it. When this stone is finally hot enough, 
the hewe-nrc\ki}r dips her hand in the batter and 
rapidly spreads it over the hot surface of the 



274 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

stone, and almost instantly the batter cooks into 
a very thin, paper-like sheet, which is then pulled 
off and piled up until a great number of sheets 
have been prepared. It is very palatable to the 
taste, but we cannot say that we were very fond 
of it, especially after watching the preparing and 
making of it. 

As we have noticed in preceding Chapters, the 
Navahoes are known for their blankets, the cov- 
eted treasure of every white woman. The Zunies, 
however, are not known for their blankets, al- 
though they do weave some for their own use, 
nor are they known particularly for their pot- 
tery, although they make and bake quite a little 
of it. The following description is given of pot- 
tery-making as it may be seen among the Zunies 
even today. First, however, we should listen to 
Mrs. Stevenson, one of the experts of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, as she tells about the 
care with which the reverent Zuni woman 
gathers the clay for her work. "On passing a 
stone-heap, she picked up a small stone in her 
left hand, spitting upon it, carried the hand 
around her head and threw the stone over one 
shoulder upon the stone-heap in order that her 
strength might not go from her when carrying 
the heavy load down the mesa. She then visited 
the shrine at the base of the mother rock, and 
tearing off a bit of her blanket, deposited it in 
one of the tiny pits in the rock as an offering to 
the mother rock. When she drew near to the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 275 

clay-bed, she indicated to Mr. Stevenson that he 
must remain behind, as men never approached 
the spot. Proceeding a short distance, the party 
reached a point where We'wha requested me to 
to remain perfectly quiet and not talk, saying, 
'Should we talk, my pottery would crack in the 
baking, and unless I pray constantly, the clay 
will not appear to me.' She applied the hoe vig- 
orously to the hard soil, all the while murmur- 
ing prayers to Mother Earth. Nine-tenths of the 
clay was rejected, every lump being tested be- 
tween the fingers as to its texture. After gather- 
ing about one hundred and fifty pounds in a blan- 
ket, which she carried on her back, with the ends 
of the blanket tied around her forehead, We'wha 
descended the steep mesa, apparently uncon- 
scious of the weight."' Now for the pottery-mak- 
ing itself: "The Zuni woman having gathered 
the clay from two or three different localities, 
mixes it, for it is found that certain mixed clays 
are much better than any one of them taken 
alone. After being well washed and puddled, 
the potter takes a small piece of the now pre- 
pared clay and rolls it out between her hands 
into a long 'rope.' This is now coiled around a 
center, and thus the base of her jar or olla is 
formed, pressing and pinching one coil into or 
upon the other until they cohere, and then 
smoothing them out with a spatula made of 
bone or perhaps of a dried piece of melon or 
gourd rind. Rapidly and surely, coil upon coil 



276 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

is added. With nothing but her eye to direct 
her, and with no tool but the spatula and her 
own hand, the neck of the jar is shaped. For a 
day or two it is set in the sun to dry, and while 
in this brittle state it is also painted and deco- 
rated. The most fascinating part of the whole 
work for the Zuni woman is this painting of the 
designs. What do they mean and what do they 
symbolize? It certainly would be interesting to 
know all this. Some designs are drawn from 
nature and undoubtedly symbolize the germina- 
tion and development of life. These are more 
or less easily understood, the tadpole or polli- 
wog, and frog. Other designs seem to be drawn 
only from the imagination of the potter. There 
is no copy, no drawing, no sketch, but it simply 
lives in her busy and imaginative brain. Some- 
times it is a conventionalized butterfly, or deer, 
or the symbolic thunder-bird, while rain, cloud, 
and water symbols are also very frequent, A 
great variety of geometrical designs are also 
used. Her paints are drawn from the clays, and 
under the influence of heat have been turned 
into reds, yellows, and browns. For paint 
brushes she uses the yucca fiber and needles. 
With the jar on her knees, she places each stroke 
deftly and determinately until the decoration is 
finished. Now, when dry, the jar or whatever 
she has made and painted, is ready for firing. 
The kiln is built out-of-doors, free from the 
wind, and then an oven of dried maniu'e from 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 277 

the sheep and goat pens is made around and 
over it. The fire is hghted and skillfully man- 
aged, so that the heat gradually increases and 
finally is kept as intense as possible for an hour 
or so, when it is allowed to die down, and when 
quite cooled, the pottery is removed. A bit of 
paper-bread is placed in each pot when it is 
fired, in order to feed the spirit of the vase. It 
is believed, that if a woman, about to bear a 
child, should look at the pottery before it is 
fired, it will come from the oven with a black 
spot upon it." 

As may be gleaned from the foregoing, the 
Zuni pueblo in many respects resembles a great 
bee-hive. The houses are built, as we have al- 
ready seen, one upon another, the roof of one 
forming the floor or yard of the next one above, 
and thus in some cases four or five tiers of dwell- 
ings have been erected, however, two stories is 
the usual height, very few are built higher than 
that. Among the Zunies as among the civilized 
peoples, riches and official position confer im- 
portance and significance upon the possessor. 
The rich live in the lower houses; those of more 
modest means in the next above; while the 
poorer families as a rule content themselves 
with the uppermost stories. These houses, which 
are built of stone and adobe (sun-dried bricks 
composed of earth and straw molded in wooden 
forms), are clustered about three plazas, or 
squares, and a fourth plaza is on the western 



278 CRINGING THE GOSPEL 

side of the village. There are three covered 
ways, and several streets. Strange to say, the 
women delight in house-building, especially in 
plastering them inside and out. Once a year 
they are engaged, to their delight and pleasure, 
in plastering the outside of the adobe Mission 
buildings. They consider this their special pre- 
rogative, and would consider it an infringement 
upon their rights if the men were to do it. Men 
lay the stone foundations, build the walls, and 
place large logs, which serve as beams to sup- 
port the roof, which is made of willow boughs 
spread over with brush, and then tliQ whole cov- 
ered with earth. As Egyptian women of old, so 
the little Zuni girls trudge to and from the 
river with their water vases on their heads 
bringing the water for mixing the mortar. 

Though some of these Zuni houses have as 
many as eight rooms, the ordinary one has from 
four to six, and a few have only two. Ledges 
built with the house, extend around the rooms, 
forming seats and shelves. The largest room is 
for general living purposes; here the entire fam- 
ily works, eats, and sleeps, and here the guests 
are also entertained. Whenever this room is 
required for the use of some fraternity, the fam- 
ily, taking all its belongings, moves to other 
quarters. Very simple indeed are the sleeping 
arrangements, for in one corner of the big liv- 
ing-room hangs a big pole, suspended by thongs 
of rawhide at each end. Poetically this is termed. 



280 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

"the pole of the soft stiitf." The term, "soft stuff" 
includes sheep- and goatskins, together with the 
robes the Zunies themselves weave or which they 
have purchased from the Navahoes. The more 
valuable things, as the ceremonial parapher- 
nalia, are carefully wrapped and deposited in 
the storage rooms. 

As a rule, you will also find in this living-room 
the mills that are set up for grinding meal. 
These mills consist of three or more slabs of 
stone, of different degrees of fineness of grain, 
set side by side at an angle of about 45°, 
and separated by upright slabs, the whole sur- 
rounded by other slabs, making an enclosure for 
each mill. On these mills the corn and grain is 
ground by the women and girls, calling for an 
exercise not unlike the washing of clothes on 
an old-fashioned wash-board. While the bangs 
of the women flop back and forth w hen engaged 
in this work, the perspiration caused by the 
strenuous exercise and the vermin loosing their 
grip, often falling in the meal as it is being 
ground, and this very naturally has an influence 
upon the white man's appetite when he breaks 
bread with his Zuni neighbors. 

Nearly all the rooms of a Zuni house are pro- 
vided with a fireplace. A commodious mantel 
usually extends over a part of the fireplace, and 
on it rests the masonry chimney reaching up 
thru the roof, while the exterior chimney is 
composed of old pottery vases with perforated 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 281 

bottoms. Today the influences of our civiliza- 
tion, as it is represented by the Missionaries, 
traders, and Government employees, are begin- 
ning to be seen in many Zuni homes. There are 
sewing machines upon which the women have 
been taught to sew, cook stoves or ranges are 
also found here and there, even modern iron 
bedsteads and chairs are in a few places. Lamps, 
regular gasoline lamps, are being used for light, 
and many, many other things equally useful 
and convenient to the betterment of the enjoy- 
ment of life are being introduced all the time. 

The home-life of the Zunies, as Rev. FryHng 
also mentions in his article, is entirely different 
than that of the Navaho, whom the Zuni looks 
upon as an enemy. Here, in Zuni, the husband 
lives with his wife's folks and it is a very com- 
mon thing to find several families living under 
the same roof. In general, the Zunies do not 
have large families, but the members are deeply 
attached to one another. It is indeed a distinct 
pleasure, in the early evening, to pay a visit to 
the living-room, before the elders have been 
called away to the fraternities or elsewhere. The 
Zuni children are scarcely ever disobedient, and 
can play together the livelong day without a 
quarrel. The boys and girls do not play together 
very often. In fact, the girls seem to have little 
time for play. They must care for the little 
ones, whom they carry on their backs, often tot- 
tering under the weight. When free from this 



282 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

care they imitate all that the mother does. They 
make pottery, weave belts, and especially bake 
bread. 

Games and impromptu dances are among the 
favorite pastimes of the young men. The dog 
dance, in which the performer picks money and 
silver buttons from the ground with his mouth, 
always draws a large audience and leads to con- 
siderable betting. The older girls do not go 
about the village unattended, and espe- 
cially after dark they are not safe. Really the 
only place they are free to visit alone is the well, 
"the town pump." Here in the evening there 
may sometimes be found a youth waiting for an 
opportunity to speak a word to the pretty girls, 
and, of course, to some special one, if his affec- 
tions have already been settled. It is a mistake 
that Zuni girls make advances to the men. Their 
love-making is little different than among our 
own youths and maidens. 

The Zunies are, as you perhaps already know, 
an agricultural and pastoral people. The fields 
are not owned by clans, as is sometimes sup- 
posed, but any one may cultivate any strip of 
land that appeals to him, provided it has not 
already been appropriated, and once in his pos- 
session, he has the right to transfer it to whom- 
soever he pleases within the tribe. According to 
their law the landed property of a married man 
or woman after death goes to the daughters. The 
sons are supposed to be able to acquire their 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 283 

own fields, but if there should be no girls, then 
the sons are the next heirs. Horses, cattle, 
sheep, and blankets are divided among the boys 
and the girls of the family, and while the silver 
beads and turquoise earrings of the mother go 
to the daughters, the coral, white shell and tur- 
quoise necklaces and earrings of the father go 
to the eldest son. The little gardens about the 
village, which are tended exclusively by the 
women, are inherited by the daughters. 

As will have been noticed from the foregoing, 
the Zuni as well as the Navaho tribe is divided 
into clans. Knowledge of some clans has been 
entirely lost, while there are at least four clans 
which have now become extinct, and one clan 
since many years has been represented by just 
one man. Besides these, there are fifteen other 
clans. While descent, as also with the Nav- 
ahoes, is thru the maternal side, the offspring is 
considered closely allied to the father's clan. 
Always the child is referred to as belonging to 
the mother's clan and as being the "child" of the 
father's clan. As appears from the Missionary's 
article, the native government and religion are 
inseparably connected. There is supposed to be 
a Governor with four assistants and a Lieuten- 
ant Governor with four deputies. The real Gov- 
ernment, however, in the present Zuni village, is 
represented in the United States Agent, who re- 
sides at Blackrock, some four and a half miles 
from Zuni. We need not say anything about the 



284 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

educational facilities and opportunities as of- 
fered by the Government and Mission, since this 
matter is treated by Rev. Fryling. Just to re- 
member it, we state here, that there is a large 
Government Boarding School at Blackrock, and 
a Government Day School as also a Mission Day 
School in the Zuni village, 

•By means of the Government dam at Black- 
rock, built at a cost of more than a half million 
dollars, it is possible for the Zuni people to irri- 
gate their whole valley, and they are thus en- 
abled to raise profitable crops. Near the corn- 
fields, muskmelons, watermelons, squashes, and 
gourds are usually grown. When these begin to 
ripen, the fields must be continually guarded, 
and for this purpose rude shelters are erected 
where the owners can stay over night. In addi- 
tion to the human thieves, the country is so in- 
fested with ravens that the Zunies have become 
experts in the construction of scarecrows. Many 
of the Zunies leave the village and rather com- 
fortable houses and live in one of the three 
farming places mentioned at the beginning of 
this Chapter. Having learned by experience 
what it means to be reduced to starvation and 
compelled to seek help of neighboring pueblos, 
the Zunies aim to keep a year's supply of grain 
on hand untouched, to provide against failure 
of crops. 

As we know, among enlightened and civilized 
peoples games are usually associated with sport 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 285 

and recreation, but with the Zunies this is not 
so. Their ceremonial games are for the bringing 
of rain, and tluis tliey vei-y naturally constitute 
an important element in their religious and so- 
cial life. Each game, of course, has its regula- 
tions and limitations. The betting race, which 
we once witnessed while on a visit to Zuni, is 
one in which a distance of about twenty-five 
miles is covered. Each leader of a team that en- 
ters this race places a stick, somewhat larger 
than one's middle finger, across his foot near the 
Iocs and sprinkles it with meal; they then cry 
out Si (ready). This stick may not be touched 
with the hand after it is once placed on the foot. 
It is often kicked a long distance, but no matter 
where it may rest, it must be managed wdth the 
foot. To the Zunies there is only one thing more 
exciting than this race, and that is the so-called 
scalp-dance. Those on horseback must urge 
their ponies onward to keep pace with the 
racers. On the outcome of this race everything 
is wagered from a silver button to a fine blan- 
ket. All these things are placed in two stacks 
and kept in the large plaza. The women are not 
permitted to mingle with the men, but are to be 
seen in groups on the house tops, just as much 
interested in the affair as the men. 

There is still one more thing that we must 
speak of concerning the Zunies before we take 
up a brief special study of their customs, leg- 
ends, and superstitions, and that is their rehgion. 



286 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Just recently we found an article on this subject, 
'The Religion of the Zuni," in the Bugle, the An- 
nuary of Grundy Center College, by the pen of 
Mr. J. J. Fryling, son of our Zuni Missionary. 
We quote the following from this article : 

"The Zuni's conception of the deity is far different 
from that of any other people of the world. They serve 
the creature instead of the Creator, they believe the sun 
to be the father of the gods, the moon the mother, and 
the stars their children. Before sunrise, and just before 
sunset, the holy Sun-priest sprinkles a pinch of holy meal 
from his valet on the ground, murmuring a low, weird 
prayer. This is, undoubtedly, the most obligatory duty 
which is performed by this priest. Besides this, he is 
often seen praying in the bed of the Zuni River, and al- 
ways, when his prayer is ended, sprinkling that pinch of 
holy meal upon the ground before him. 

"Three or four times a year all the members of the 
Zuni tribe go into the mountains, and plant their prayer- 
plumes. This sacred duty of the Zuni is always carried 
out most religiously. There are about nine or ten holy 
shrines near their pueblo, and every now and then the 
different priests go there to worship. It is important to 
notice the seriousness and reverence which each and every 
member shows in his worship. This, however, does not 
seem to impose upon them any moral laws. He may be 
sincere in his faith, devout and punctilious in his religious 
duties, and still may not hold moral rectitude as an active 
and a living principle. 

Another, both interesting and important, factor in the 
religious orders of the Zuni is their sacred dance. There 
are a great number of different kinds, but I shall give a 
brief description of only two of the more interesting 
types — the Rain Dance and the 'Kolawusae." The 
'Kokoa' or the Rain Dance, is an order that dresses up in 
a strange costume, and which represent the gods of rain. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 287 

Before entering the pueblo, on their journey from the 
hills, they pray at the holy shrine of 'Hepatina,' beseech- 
ing the gods, whom they represent, to grant them their 
desire by answering prayers and songs. While entering 
the pueTDlo they pass by different members of the tribe, 
who sprinkle holy meal upon their heads, a form of honor 
and respect. Meanwhile they utter a short prayer of 
humiliation and devotion. Then they pass together into 
the holy plaza, where they perform their religious duties. 
There the people go to worship and to attend the dance. 
That is the place where they become re-inspired in their 
heathen belief, and sometimes approach the lowest stages 
of barbarism and beastly lusts. (Things have occurred 
at these dances, we have been told, which modesty simply 
forbids even as much as to mention. — J. D.). 

"The 'Kolawusae' festival, a very unique form of wor- 
ship, takes place eveiy four years. The word signifies a 
great sea monster. A representation of this beast is made 
and carried around by six members of the clan. All the 
members of the Zuni tribe worship this great beast. The 
priest, as in other religious performances, again sprinkles 
a pinch of holy meal upon its head. There is a great 
amount of mythology connected with the 'Kolawusae.' 
The Zuni believes that during the time of a great flood, 
this beast swam thru a hol,y arch in a large mountain near 
the present pueblo of the Zuni. Growing out of the ef- 
fort of primitive man to account for the natural phe- 
nomena surrounding him, the myth of the 'Kolawusae' 
varies as to detail with almost every tribe. The wide cir- 
culation of this myth is shown by the fact that the mon- 
ster figures prominently, in the mythology of botl\ the 
roving and the pueblo tribes. With some groups it is pic- 
tured as a mighty bird, dwelling in the mountain cliffs 
with kindred spirits, and sallying forth at intervals, caus- 
ing blessings upon the dry fields with abundant showers 
of fresh rain, which means rich grass for their herds, and 
full granaries. Hence it is a deity embodying all things 



288 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

beneficial to mankind; its presence, a constant augury of 
peace and happiness; its painted image on the rocks and 
in the estufas, an enduring talisman of good fortune. 
The glazed mineral paints, and the clear-cut sculptures of 
the prehistoric artists, made by the people of one of the 
more prominent tribes, have remained bright and distinct, 
and today those figures on the red cliffs are accepted as a 
conventional design of this universal Indian deity. 

"Their religion has taught loyalty and respect to their 
gods, but has fostered a willful individualism. It has 
made social life lower; its virtues are stoical; it makes 
life barren and empty; it makes religion a submission to 
a few infinite despots. Is it not our duty to bring to 
people of this type, at home and abroad, the true Gospel, 
so that they also may know what the spark of human 
existence may mean for them now and for the time to 



come 



"Long years of earnest toil may be spent, but can never 
be wasted, for success usually comes at last, after weary 
years of disappointment. For the religion of the Zuni is 
as a great tree, which seems still solid and firm, but has. 
been secretly decaying within and is hollow at heart; at 
last it falls, speedily, filling the forest with the echo of its 
ruin. Again, it is like a dam which seems strong enough 
to resist the torrent of true faith, but has been slowly 
undermined by a thousand minute rills of water, and at 
last it is suddenly swept away, and opens a yawning 
breach for the tumbling cataract, so that the waters of 
Christianity may flow smoothly on to their final goal. 
Hence, in order to attain this end, let us trample beneath 
our feet the viper of heathendom, and raise high in its 
place the banner of the Cross." 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 289 
A. CUSTOMS 

TT is as true of the Ziinies as of other Indian 
-■■ tribes, there are many and various customs 
wliich are still being observed by the older 
people, but which are gradually being discarded 
by those educated in the white man's schools. 
These educated young people are ashamed of 
these customs just as they are of many of the 
religious rites and ceremonies. If they observe 
them at all, it is not because they believe in 
them or attach any value to them, but it is done 
out of fear of being ostracized and thus becom- 
ing an outcast. The life of those that are thus 
cast out is anything but pleasant. One con- 
fessed to us once, upon a visit to Zuni, that he 
Avished he might die, for his life was simply full 
of trouble, and there was no pleasure in it. Now 
the customs that we would say a word about at 
this time are those which are observed at nativ- 
ity, marirage, and death. 

If parents, looking forward to the coming of 
an addition to the family, desire a daughter, 
then the husband and wife, frequently accom- 
panied by a doctress or a female relative, visit 
what is called the Mother-rock on the west side 
of Towa-yallanne (corn mountain). The base 
of this rock is covered with symbols of the a'sha 
(vulva), and is perforated with small excava- 
tions. The woman, expecting soon to become a 
mother, scrapes a small quantity of the rock 



290 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

into a tiny vase made for the purpose, and de- 
posits it in one of the cavities in the rock and 
prayer is offered by all present that the daugh- 
ter may grow to be good, beautiful, and preserve 
all virtues, and that she may be able to weave 
beautifully and be skilled in the art of making 
pottery. If a son is desired, the party visits a 
shrine higher up the side of the mountain, in a 
fissure in the same rock, and sprinkle meal and 
deposit A'likinawe, with prayers that a son may 
be born to them and that he may become dis- 
tinguished in war, and after death be great 
among the ancestral gods. Should these prayers 
at the shrines not be answered as desired, then 
it is because the heart of one or both of the 
couple was not good. There are still other 
shrines which are visited for this purpose. 

Physicians who serve among the Indians, can 
tell of many and varied experiences in regard to 
child-birth. Mrs. Stevenson in her records of 
life among the Zunies, speaks of the following 
experience : "An expectant mother, while at 
her farm at Oje Caliente, became alarmed at the 
retarded action of the fetus, and she and her 
husband returned to Zuni to consult Nai'uchi, 
at that time one of the greatest and most highly 
respected theurgists among the Zunies. On 
learning that the woman had been drinking 
from the sacred spring of the Ko'loowisi 
(Plumed Serpent), he declared that she was not 
carrying a child, but a serpent. The following 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 291 

day the husband came to the writer in great dis- 
tress and hegged her to go to his wife, w^ho was 
in such a wretched mental state, that he feared 
she would die. After examining the abdomen, 
the writer declared that Nai-uchi was mistaken, 
but his words had sunk deep into the sufferer's 
mind, and hours were spent with the distracted 
woman before she was convinced that her doc- 
tor was in error. After several days a slight 
color took the place of the death-like pallor of 
the woman, and she slowly improved, but it was 
many days before she was like herself again. In 
less than six weeks from that time a healthy 
boy was born. The writer named the child at 
the request of the mother, but the nickname of 
little Ko'loowisi will chng to him for many a 
day. The gratitude of the husband was very 
marked and was shown in every way possible. 
Each week the best products of his fields and 
garden were brought to her from his farm, fif- 
teen miles away." 

When a birth has taken place, one of the at- 
tendant doctrcsses makes two warm beds of 
heated sand, one for the mother and one for the 
new-born child, and while this is going on, the 
mother bites upon a white stone in order that 
the child's teeth may be strong and white. Two 
ears of corn are presented by the mother-in-law; 
a single ear, called the father, is used for a boy; 
a divided one, called the mother, is placed by a 
girl. The doctress, who has received the child 



292 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

into the world, deposits a basket of prayer-meal 
at the head of the child's sand-bed, and offers 
a long prayer to A'wona wilona (the supreme 
power) for long life and health to the child. 
Although the Zunies believe that the span of life 
is determined at the time of birth, this does not 
keep them from incessant prayer for health and 
long life. After prayer, the doctress sprinkles 
a line of meal from east to west over the sand- 
bed to symbolize the straight path the child must 
follow in order to receive the blessings of 
A'wona wilona and the Sun Father. Now the 
mother is looked after; having taken her seat 
upon the sand-bed prepared for her, a bowl of 
mutton-stew, a basket of mush, boiled in corn 
husks, and a basket tray of paper bread is de- 
posited on the floor beside her. All of those 
present join in the meal, but generally none eat 
with more relish than the new^ mother. At the 
first peep of the sun on the morning following 
the birth, the doctress, having been supplied 
with a vase of warm water, a gourd, and a bas- 
ket of ashes, proceeds to bathe the infant. Dip- 
ping a gourd of water, she fills her mouth, and 
pouring the water from her mouth over the head 
of the child, washes its face and head, rubbing 
quite vigorously, after which ashes are rubbed 
over the face, a quantity of which usually ad- 
heres to the skin. After the head, the whole 
body is bathed and rubbed over with ashes and 
wrapped in a blanket, a present of the maternal 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 293 

grandmother. Six days after the birth, at the 
first light of day, a Hne of meal, symbolic of the 
path of life, is sprinkled from the house to the 
point where the child is to observe for the first 
time the Sun Father. The doctress, accom- 
panied by the mother and paternal grand- 
mother, carries the infant, with the ear of corn 
which has been by its side since its birth, held 
close to its head. The doctress holds the child 
to face east while she offers a prayer for health 
and happiness, goodness of heart, and long life. 
The child is now given a yucca suds bath by the 
doctress, the great grandmother and paternal 
grandmother, after prayers have been offered to 
the Sun Father and the Earth Mother, that all 
blessings may be granted. Nothing is used to 
dry the child aside from the ashes rubbed over 
its entire body. The children as soon as pos- 
sible, at least within ten hours after birth, are 
placed to the breast, and in general little trouble 
is experienced in nursing them. Children of 
unmarried girls receive the same attention as if 
they had been born in wedlock, and no differ- 
ence is made in the ceremonies because of 
illegitimate birth. 

With the Zunies marriage generally occurs at 
a very early age; girls are not infrequently mar- 
ried two years before reaching puberty. Should 
one not be married when she arrives at woman- 
hood, her mother goes to the house of the pater- 
nal grandmother and informs her of the fact. 



294 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

The girl is made to labor hard all day grinding 
corn in the house of her grandmother; when she 
returns in the evening to her own home, she 
carries a bowl of meat stew prepared and pre- 
sented by the grandmother. The belief is that 
if she works hard at the dawn of her woman- 
hood, she will not suffer pain at this period. 

The Zuni marriage ceremony is very simple 
in comparison with some in vogue among other 
tribes. When a boy sees a girl he desires to 
marry, he manages in some way or another to 
meet her on the road and tells her of his ad- 
miration and asks permission to go to her 
house. If he is acceptable, she will answer: 
"Wait until I speak to my father and mother." 
Later on, meeting the girl again, he inquires 
what the father and mother had to say. If they 
are willing, he then accompanies the girl to her 
home. The mother asks him to be seated and 
directs the daughter to bring food and place it 
on the floor before the guest. Should she now 
hesitate to obey the mother, either from lack of 
interest or from love of coquetry (for Zuni girls 
are real coquettes), she is admonished by one 
or both of the parents. When she has brought 
the food, she places it on the floor before her 
suitor and also takes her seat facing him. While 
he eats the food that has been set before him, 
the parents of the girl talk to him about the 
duties of a husband to a wife. After he has fin- 
ished eating, the father says: "You are about 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 295 

to marry my daughter. You must work hard; 
you must watch the sheep and help to cut the 
wood and plant grain and cut it. " The mother 
tells him that he must be kind and gentle to his 
wife. He now remains here for five nights, 
sleeping alone outside of the general living- 
room and during the day he works for the fam- 
ily, ostensibly to prove his ability to provide for 
the daughter if she becomes his wife. On the 
sixth morning he returns to his own home. 
They naturally ask, where he has been, and 
when told, they inquire if the girl's parents are 
willing. If they themselves are satisfied, they 
reveal this by saying: "It is well." When the 
groom returns to his bride from this visit to his 
home, he brings her a dress as a present from 
his mother. Having received this dress, the 
bride now grinds a lot of corn into flour, and the 
following day she carries this in a basket on 
her head and presents it to her mother-in-law, 
saying: "Mother, this is for you." The mother 
says: "Thanks, my child, be seated." The girl 
now receives bread and meat of her mother-in- 
law, and before she leaves the house, the father- 
in-law folds a deerskin and laying it before her, 
says : "This is for your moccasins." The groom 
and bride now return to her mother's house, 
where they make their permanent home. 

The Zunies, in distinction of the Navahoes, 
are monogamists. They abhor polygamy, but 
rather than live in trouble and disharmony, they 



296 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

separate, and as a result divorce is very com- 
mon. Some men and women have had several 
different companions, and therefore it is some- 
times not an easy matter to know the real rela- 
tion of children to each other or to their nom- 
inal parents. 

It has always been a custom with the Zunics, 
according to their own testimony, to bury their 
dead. They claim that the dead are the A'wcin- 
nami (rain-makers), and therefore if the bodies 
should be cremated or disposed of in some other 
way, there would be no rain. Infants that die 
with unpierced ears are supposed to carry bas- 
kets of toads and tadpoles on their heads and 
hanging from their ears, and drop them on the 
earth when the rain-makers are at w^ork. Be- 
cause this is considered a great misfortune, of- 
tentimes the ears of dead children are pierced 
before they are buried. 

As soon as a death has taken place, the body 
is laid with its head to the cast, bathed in yucca 
suds, and rubbed over with cornmeal. It is 
clothed in the best garments available and 
wrapped about with one or more blankets, and 
is buried. For officers and priests there are 
elaborate rites and excrcices, but for the ordi- 
nary dead there is little ceremony. A death is 
first announced to the clan of which he or she 
was a member, and then the news is spread to 
all the intimates of the family. The mourners 
begin to arrive even before the body is fully pre- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 297 

pared for the grave, and as each woman enters 
and looks upon the corpse, she at once sets up a 
hideous howl, taking a seat on the ledge wdiich 
extends around the room. This howling con- 
tinues until the remains have been removed 
from the house and are buried. Members of the 
family remain quiet during the funeral rites. 
The body, however, is not accompanied to the 
grave by the mourners. The interment is con- 
sidered a disagreeable duty and is concluded as 
quickly as possible by the bearers of the corpse. 
The cemetery, since the days of the Spanish 
conquest, is in the church-yard, in front of the 
ruins of the old Spanish church. The old cus- 
tom is still adhered to that men are buried on 
the south and women on the north side of the 
burial grounds. Today the church-yard is so 
packed with bodies that when a grave is dug, 
the bones thrown out are seemingly as abundant 
as the soil. Articles and possessions of any 
value are no longer buried with the dead as was 
formerly the custom. 

If the burial occurs sufficiently early for the 
Sun Father, in his journey over the world, to 
receive the prayers wafted from the plumnes, 
the immediate members of the family go a short 
distance west of the village by the river's bank 
and make an excavation in which the extra 
clothing of the deceased are deposited. For four 
nights after death the ghost of the dead hovers 
about the village and then starts on its journey 




a 
en 

o 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 299 

to Ko'thliiwala' wa (abiding-place of the Coun- 
cil of Gods). During the stay of the spirit in the 
village the door of the hatchway of the house 
must be left open that it may pass in and out 
at will. 

After the burial of a husband or a wife, the 
body of the surviving spouse is bathed by female 
relatives, and during the four nights that the 
spirit remains in the village, the parents or sis- 
ters of the deceased spouse sleep at the side of 
the surviving one. A grain of black corn and a 
bit of charcoal are put under the head of the 
mourner to insure against dreaming of the lost 
one. 



B. LEGENDS 



UNDER THIS HEAD it is our privilege first 
of all to attempt a description of the crea- 
tion of the Zuni people, whom, as we have al- 
ready seen, are designated as the A'shiwi. The 
parents of these A'shiwi, or Zunies, are no other 
than the superhuman beings who labor with 
hearts and minds and not with hands, and are 
known as Shi'wanni and ShCwano'kia. The 
Zunies were born as infants of these parents in 
the undermost world, and not at long intervals, 
but in very rapid succession until there were a 
great number of them. The Sun Father, Ya- 
tokia, had created two sons by impregnating 



300 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

two bits of foam with his rays. These two sons 
are known as the Divine Ones. Now when the 
Snn Father decided to bring his children, the 
Zunies living in the undermost world, into his 
presence, he sent the Divine Ones to fetch them, 
having previously provided them with rainbows, 
lightning arrows, and cloud shields. Thus equip- 
ped, the Divine Ones shattered the earth with 
their lightning arrows and descended to the 
dwelling-place of the Zunies, the fourth world 
down. 

When the Divine Ones arrived in this place, 
the Zunies very naturally inquired: "Who are 
you? Whence did you come?" and as answer 
they were told : "We are, the two come down." 
In this undermost world it was indeed so dark 
that it was impossible for one to see the other, 
and they were constantly trodding on each 
other's toes. Holes in the earth served for houses 
and seed grass was their food. The Divine Ones, 
in order to see the people, laid dry grass upon 
the ground and then by rubbing their arrows 
with a rotary motion upon the bows, they pro- 
duced fire and lighted the grass, using it as a 
torch to carry about among the people. There 
were many who could not look on this fire and 
many others fell back, filled with fear. Thus the 
Divine Ones received the impression that there 
were but a very few people, but the elders de- 
clared that there were very many and their word 
prevailed. 



IN HOG AN AND PUEBLO 301 

The Divine Ones now proceeded to open the 
way for the people to reach the outer world, suc- 
cessively they cast a line of meal which produced 
light, to the north, to the west, to the south, to the 
east, each time planting a certain tree for them 
to climb from the lower world to the one higher 
up until they appeared in the outer world. The 
Zunies therefore speak of their Sun Father and 
their Earth Mother. 

As they ascended from one world to the other, 
the Divine Ones and the Zunies spent some time 
in each world, and thus many of the A'shiwi, 
who were first left behind, had time to struggle 
on after the others, and finally catch up with 
them. 

Although the earth upon which the Zunies 
made their appearance coming into the out^r 
world was not exactly nuiddy, nevertheless it 
was so soft that they found great difficulty in 
proceeding. Many years were consequently con- 
sumed in their journeys to discover the middle 
of the world, the place designated for their habi- 
tation. During these years, repeated divisions 
of the people occurred, some going to the North, 
others to the South, and in this way they account 
for the ruins north and south of their line of 
travel. Finally, however, they reached the de- 
sired place, the middle of the world, now marked 
by the shrine He' patina, a stone's throw from the 
home of our Missionary at Zuni. 

The Zunies claim that the Mu'kwe (the Hopis) 



302 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

followed them to this world four years after 
they had all arrived. The Pimas came four 
years after the Hopis, and the Navahoes four 
years after the Pimas. All these people had to 
work their own way up, for the Divine Ones only 
assisted the Zunies. Two Mexicans, man and 
wife, who appeared in this world at the time the 
A'shiwi arrived, remained with them for some 
time, and thus the presence of the Mexicans 
among them is accounted for. 

The annual Shalako festival is the great 
autumn celebration, and is of more interest to 
the Zunies, and also to the Indians of the sur- 
rounding country as well as to many whites, 
than all the other festivals. The Shalako, or 
giant couriers of the rain-makers, come to the 
village and this is the sign for great, yea, un- 
bounded feasting and entertaining by the Zunies. 
During these days the larders are never empty. 
Regardless of the aftermath, with its attendant 
sutfering, the poorer class of Zunies often give, 
during this festival, all that they possess for the 
feeding of their welcome and unwelcome guests. 
Among the unwelcome guests at this festival are 
the Navahoes, who in continually increasing 
numbers, come to satiate their appetites at the 
expense of their hosts. These Navahoes do not 
seem to have the slightest hesitancy in coming 
unbidden to Zuni, riding up to a house, unsad- 
dling their horses, walking in and remaining as 
long as they please, and the Zunies, although not 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 303 

graciously, nevertheless accept this as inevitable 
and make the best of it. 

The Divine Ones not only divided the Zunies 
into different groups or clans, with distinguishing 
names as: Dogwood clan. Corn clan. Bear clan. 
Coyote clan, Antelope clan, etc., but they also 
organized and established certain fraternities 
among them as : Rattlesnake, Struck-by light- 
ning fraternity, etc. It would simply be impos- 
sible, within the limits of our space, to give any 
adequate description of this Zuni fraternity life 
and ceremony work, but we do want to say a 
few words about just one fraternity in conclud- 
ing this Chapter, and anyone particularly inter- 
ested may study the subject for himself by ob- 
taining the necessar}^ material from any up-to- 
date Public Library. 

The Fraternity we have in mind is known as 
the 'Hle'wekwe (Wood Fraternity) or Sword 
Swallowers. Different clans are represented in 
this fraternity, and it is considered to be a great 
honor to be represented therein. Two regular 
meetings are held each year, one in January 
and the other in February. Should they dance 
or hold their meetings in the summer, the corn 
would freeze, as their songs and dances are for 
cold rains and snows. The medicines of these 
'Hle'wekwe are considered to be especially good 
for sore throat; undoubtedly because of their 
barbarous practices during their dances. The di- 
rectors have wooden swords which, during their 



304 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ceremonial dances, they ram down their tiiroats 
until just enough is left exposed to get hold of 
when the time comes for withdrawing them. It 
is a marvelous feat to accomplish, but a nause- 
ating affair to wdtness. Such are also the prac- 
tices of other fraternities too horrible and too 
beastly even to mention, much less describe. May 
the Gospel of Jesus lead them out of this dense 
darkness to the wonderful light of love and to 
the works of purity and beneficence. 



C. SUPERSTITIONS 



' I 'HE ZUNIES, as all primitive peoples, are not 
•^ as happy in their philosophy of life as are 
civilized and enlightened men, because these 
have cast away many of their superstitions, 
while the Zunies' world still abounds in perplex- 
ing mysteries. Any thing they are not able to 
understand or comprehend is ascribed to some 
occult power, and consequently they are in con- 
stant terror of being conjured. Young mothers 
especially are solicitous for their infants, since 
these are the targets for the venom of diabolical 
beings. Possessors of fine beads or other adorn- 
ments are constantly frightened by the thought 
that some witch, prompted by jealousy, will cast 
a spell upon them and afflict them wdth some 
sore disease. Those that are in any way de- 
formed or have some peculiarity in their phys- 



IN H G A N AND PUEBLO 305 

ical make-up, or who have awakened the enmity 
of a prominent member of the tribe, are con- 
stantly in terror lest they fall under the sus- 
picion of being a witch. Those w^ho must go 
about at night, find a great boon in the moon- 
light which enables them to identify suspicious 
objects, for it is believed that witches love the 
night and lurk in shadows and darkness, and 
often assume the shape and form of animals, 
especially that of the cat, because of its stealthy 
habits and its ability to get thru small places. 
Belief in witchcraft is therefore strong among 
the Zunies, even as among all the Indian tribes 
of our land. 

Although there are always some in the village 
that are under a cloud of suspicion, nevertheless 
it takes some particular cause, as the severe ill- 
ness or death of a prominent man or woman of 
the tribe, to start the persecution and the bring- 
ing to trial of a witch. The attendant theurgist 
must in some way account for his inability to 
cure the patient, and he finds an easy way to do 
this by ascribing malevolent powers to someone 
already under suspicion or to someone who has 
aroused his enmity and hatred. Upon convic- 
tion a witch must suffer capital punishment. 

Many, many are the stories that might be told 
about those who professed to be under the power 
of some wdtch, or about those who have been ac- 
cused of being witches. But of all the stories we 
have read or heard along this fine, we select just 



306 



BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



one for your reading, and this selection was de- 
cided by the fact that we, on one of our visits to 
Zuni, had the privilege to talk with the accused 
and question him concerning the whole matter. 
Zuni Nick, now a man past middle age, was 
brought up in the family of an Indian trader. 
As a result of this, and of the ideas he continually 
absorbed in listening to the white people when 
they talked about the Zuni dances and cere- 
monies, Nick was led to deny and despise the 
teachings and superstitions of his people. As a 
young man he was rather bold and outspoken, 
and when he returned from the white man's 
school, he did not hesitate to publicly criticize 
the "ways of the old," as followed by the Zunies. 
After some time he fell in love with a Zuni 
maiden, and in spite of all protests, he succeeded 
in winning her, and they were married. This 
marriage and his continued mocking criticisms 
of their customs, superstitions, and religion, 
widened the breach between him and his people 
more and more, and the elders, priests, and gov- 
ernors assumed an attitude of "watchful wait- 
ing," for their day of opportunity to publicly re- 
buke him, which they knew would come sooner 
or later. At last this day dawned. The crops 
were a failure as a result of a severe drought 
and of hot winds that simply scorched every- 
thing, the flocks of sheep and goats began to die 
otf, the children fell sick and many died, the 
hunters returned empty-handed from the chase 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 307 

in spite of their most earnest prayers and peti- 
tions to the gods. These conditions offered to 
the enemies of Nick their long-coveted oppor- 
tunity. Quietly they had it whispered about the 
village that all these evils were due to the fact 
that Nick, who constantly associated with white 
men and used the white man's language, was a 
wizard and had exercised his diabolical powers 
upon them. The leaven of hatred and supersti- 
tion soon began to work. One nignt when Nick 
was sound asleep, a number of the elders broke 
into his room, bound him hand and foot, gagged 
him and carried him to one of the Estufas, un- 
derground sacred ceremonial chambers. Here 
he was faced by his accusers, harangued, and ex- 
horted to confess. Nick, who realized what his 
fate would be unless he were rescued, mocked 
and teased his captors and defied them to do 
their worst, thus fighting for time. Being tried, 
he was soon found guilty, his hands tied behind 
his back, taken to the ruins of the old Spanish 
church, he was hung up by the thumbs from a 
projecting beam. Thus he hung suspended in 
most horrible torture until upon the urging of 
the Shamans he was ready to confess that he 
was a wizard. This confession would undoubt- 
edly have cost him his life had it not been for 
the Zunies' fear of the soldiers at Fort Wingate, 
and with whom they were threatened by the 
trader, who had been notified of what was going 
on, if thev did not release Nick immediately. 



308 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

After the release the Government Agent was 
informed by someone of what had happened. He 
undertook to bring the guilty ones to trial for 
"assaulting with intent to kill" one of their own 
people. But at last fearing that this step might 
lead to a Zuni uprising, which would not be to 
his credit as United States Agent, he satisfied his 
desire for justice by arresting the Zuni Governor, 
Tsnahey, known to the whites as Dick, and sent 
him to prison for several months on the charge 
that, as Governor, he had power to prevent the 
persecution of Nick. 

Since that time and day, even up to the pres- 
ent, there is an irreconcilable enmity between 
Zuni Nick and Zuni Dick. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 309 

XV. 
ENTERING THE ZUNI FIELD 

TN the month of June, 1629, a band of Mission- 
•■• aries under Fray Estevan de Perea, accom- 
panied by the governor, Don Francisco Manuel 
de Silva Nieto, started westward from Santa Fe 
for the purpose of planting missions among the 
Acomas, Zunies, and Hopis. They evidently 
reached Zuni late in July, as Nieto's first inscrip- 
tion on El Morro is dated July 29. Fray Roque 
de Figueredo, Fray Augustine de Cuellar, and 
Fray Francisco de la Medre de Dios, together 
with three soldiers, one of whom was Juan Gon- 
zales, remained at Zuni. A house was built for 
religious purposes at Hawikuh, which became 
the first Misison established in the Zuni country. 
These three missionaries, however, disappear 
from Zuni history before 1632. They were suc- 
ceeded by Fray Francisco Letrado, who arrived 
in New Mexico in 1629, and was first assigned to 
the Jumanos east of the Rio Grande. In the 
month of February, on the twenty-second, a date 
now known to every American boy and girl as 
the birthday of George Washington, the father 
of his country, of the year 1632, the Zunies killed 
Letrado, and then out of fear for the conse- 
quences, tied to their stronghold on Mount 
Toaiyalone, where they remained for three 
years. Five days after the massacre of Letrado 



310 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

the Zunies also followed Fray Martin de Arvide 
and also murdered him and his escort of two sol- 
diers as they were going from the Zuni villages 
to visit a tribe who lived to the west. Mission- 
aries of this same Order were again established 
at Zuni about the year 1643. In 1670 the Nav- 
ahoes raided the Zuni villages and besides other 
depredations, they killed the Zuni missionary, 
Fray Pedro de Avila Ayala by beating out his 
brains with a bell while he was clinging to a 
cross. Ten years later, in 1680, a general revolt 
of Pueblo Indians against Spanish authority 
took place. Again the Zunies killed the mission- 
ary. Fray Juan de Bal, burned the church and 
fled once more to Toaiyalone, where they re- 
mained this time for more than twelve years. In 
1700 Padre Juan Garaicochea was priest at Zuni. 
From now on the history is not particularly in- 
teresting; thruout the eighteenth and well into 
the nineteenth century, a mission was in exist- 
ence, but at last the church fell into ruin and 
only occasionally was it visited by priests. 

It is not to be expected that the Friars will give 
up this mission, once established by their 
martyrs' blood, without a great combat. They 
may be willing to let us alone at present, and it 
may seem that we will be allowed to continue 
our work unmolested, but we doubt not, the day 
will come when we will have them to contend 
with. 

After the Friars discontinued their active work 



312 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

in Zuni, abandoning the ruins of a once large 
church, the Presbyterians made an attempt to 
establish a mission at Zuni. This was in the days 
when this great Church was not alive to the 
cause of Indian Missions as it is today. It was 
not a very prosperous undertaking, and did not 
in any way receive the backing that it should 
have from the home church. When our Churen 
desired to occupy the field in 1897, these good 
people very willingly withdrew and left the 
work to us. 

The motive of our entering this field when we 
had as yet only the smallest kind of a beginning 
among the Navahoes, may well be questioned. 
We recall that it was in the latter part of 1896 
that our men. Rev. H. Fryling and Mr. A. Van 
der Wagen, with their wives, entered upon the 
Indian Mission service at Fort Defiance. Soon 
after becoming established at that place, they 
came in contact with members of the Zuni tribe, 
and after their village had been visited, Mr. Van 
der Wagen was filled with enthusiasm to enter 
upon that field, believing that it was Providen- 
tial as well as a most promising opportunity. 
After iinparting some of his enthusiasm to mem- 
bers of the Board, he was granted the privilege 
to enter the field. The following year a severe 
epidemic of smallpox broke out among the 
Zunies, and Mr. Van der Wagen and his good 
wife, who by the way was a nurse, stood by the 
sick and the dying. It verily seemed that the un- 



i N ! I O (; A N AND PUEBLO 3 1 5 

timely death of so many, and the highly appre- 
ciated services of the missionaries would open 
the hearts of the survivors for the Gospel of 
light and life. But when the danger was past, 
although the services were not forgotten, the 
Zunies clung to their idolatry and superstition. 
Mr. and Mrs. Van der Wagen labored on without 
gathering any real fruit until 1906, when he re- 
signed and was succeeded by the Rev. H. Fryling^ 
formerly among the Navahoes at Fort Defiance, 
but who, when that place was abandoned, en- 
tered upon the regular ministry in our Church at 
Pease, Minnesota. His heart, however, was in 
the Indian service, so when the way was opened 
for him to take up the work at Zuni, he was glad 
to accept the call and the Board was more glad 
to have him accept, seeing that it was seemingh 
impossible to get anyone to enter upon that 
work. 

Since 1906 Rev. Fryling has been laboring at 
Zuni, not with a blare of trumpets and the beat- 
ing of drums, but quietly and carefully thru 
teaching and preaching laying a solid founda- 
tion to build upon when the Lord's time comes 
to call the Zunies out of nature's darkness into 
the wonderful light of His mercy and grace. Al- 
ready a couple of young men have accepted the 
Christ Jesus presented to them in the catechism 
class by Missionary Fryling. A great number 
of others would be willing to accept Christian 
Baptism if the Missionary would only be ready 



314 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

to receive them and thru baptism bring them 
into the Christian Church. Rev. Fryling is a 
most careful and conscientious worker, and fully 
realizing the temptations, the scoflings, the per- 
secutions that await every convert, he desires to 
be rather certain that any whom he receives 
into the communion of the Church shall be able 
to withstand all these, for a back-slidden convert 
in Zuni would be a tremendous drawback to the 
prosecution of the work. Ah! Zuni is undoubt- 
edly a promising field. Not in the sense in which 
many have understood it, however, who thought 
that in a short time the village to a great extent 
Avould be a village of converts. But promising 
in the sense, as you may gleam it from a careful 
perusal of Rev. Fryling's article, which follows. 
Promising, when we do not forget: "Not by 
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit shall it be 
brought to pass, saith the Lord"; when, after a 
thorough indoctrination of the youth, both boys 
and girls, the influence and power of the old 
people is broken. Then, and then only, may we, 
by the grace of our God, expect a mighty change 
in Zuni. If thru kindness and love the Mission- 
ary and his helpers arc able to hold the youth 
w^ho they are now teaching in the various schools 
and Sunday schools, then the future for the work 
at Zuni is most promising. 

It is in no way necessary for us to go into de- 
tail about the work or the workers, our repre- 
sentatives, at Zuni, for you will find a full de- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 315 

scription of this in the following written by the 
Rev. H. Fryling himself. We want to mention, 
however, that the various workers at Zuni are 
sincere and consecrated men and women, and 
that the mutual relation is always of the very 
best. The Missionary and his Assistant are sup- 
ported by the Classis Muskegon, while the school 
and all connected therewith is for reckoning of 
the Board. We have, as a Board, without ex- 
ception, received laudatory commendation of 
the Mission from the other whites living in or 
near Zuni and Blackrock, where the work is car- 
ried on. No one visiting our Indian field should 
fail to make a trip to Zuni, one of the most in- 
teresting places of the Southwest to visit. With 
the hope that your interest in this particular 
part of our Indian Mission service may increase 
your prayers to the Throne above that the idola- 
trous and superstitious Zuni may also come to 
the faith that saves, we ask you to read most 
carefully the description of the work that 
follows. 



THE ZUNI MISSION 



REV. H. FRYLING, Missionary at Zuni, N. M. 

OUR FIELD is in the Zuni village and valley 
on the north and south side of the Zuni 
River, about forty miles southwest of Gallup, 
New Mexico. Here our Christian Reformed 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 317 

Church located its mission in the fall of 1897, 
and where we then found a tribe of about 1,600 
pueblo Indians, the remnant of a much larger 
tribe which lived here in the past. Since the 
Government took charge of them, their num- 
ber has increased to a little over 1,800. They 
are a village people, which as long as they have 
been known, have lived together in pueblos. At 
present the Museum of the American Indian, 
the Heye Foundation, is making an ethnological 
survey, by excavating one of the oldest Zuni vil- 
lages called Haweku, which is located about 
fourteen miles southwest from the present Zuni 
village. This old village, found by Spanish ex- 
plorers, is entirely covered with sand, and by 
these excavations very precious things are found 
to elucidate the early history of the Zunies. 

The Zunies, unlike their Navaho neighbors, 
have a regular home and family life. They 
build a home and enjoy being in their family 
circle and visiting relatives and friends in their 
homes. They do the most of their visiting in 
the winter when their farm work is done and 
nearly all have come together from their three 
farming villages, various farming places and 
ranches, for civil and religious association. Be- 
sides being a home-loving people, they also enjoy 
to be together in society. During the winter 
months they often convene for counsel on secu- 
lar and religious matters. They have for that 
purpose a regular staff of civil officers appointed 



I 



318 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

by their most important religious leaders. Their 
civil government is thus kept up and regulated 
by their religious officers. This is the reason why 
the Zuni religious system governs the entire 
tribe, and every action in its government, in its 
society and family life is, in some way or other, 
connected with religion, and has some kind of a 
religious significance attached to it. Their homes 
are built and consecrated with religious cere- 
monies, their grindstones, for grinding the meal 
or flour in their homes, are set with sacred meal 
and prayer plumes under them; their fields and 
ranches are often visited and consecrated with 
devotional exercises. Their whole civil and so- 
cial, as well as their religious life, is therefore 
connected with some kind oi a devotional 
ceremony. 

The Zunies are therefore considered a very 
religious people, who are guided by their re- 
ligious beliefs and motives thru the whole of 
their lives. We must admit they are a very re- 
ligious people, but we must also note that their 
religion is exceedingly formal, consisting in 
nothing but religious ceremonies, which does not 
influence their morals nor change their life for 
the better. They believe in the Sun-Father as 
their main deity, and next to him the Moon- 
Mother and her children, the stars and other 
forces of nature which they emblematize by 
making images of and shrines for them. The 
worship of these idols, however, does not create 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 319 

in them a sense of dependence upon or respon- 
sibility towards a higher being. They have no 
conception of real sin or of favor with their 
gods. Consequently they have no idea of a 
heaven and a hell, in the sense as taught by the 
Word of God. They believe in Kothhialakwe, 
which is an imaginary village of the Zuni dead, 
about forty miles southwest from the present 
Zuni Pueblo, but this is a place where all the 
Zunies go four days after their demise. In this 
village the spirits pass their time with dance and 
song, and from thence they now and then, in the 
form of Ko-kokshi (certain dancers), make their 
appearance among the people in the Zuni vil- 
lage. At other times they are heard and seen in 
the cloudy sky as rain gods, who send thunder, 
lightning, rain, snow, and so on. What really 
keeps the Zunies in line for their pagan worship 
is not so much their love for their gods nor their 
fear of them, as their fear of one another. They 
are very much afraid to be looked upon and held 
by their people as a wizard or a witch, and can- 
not bear any reproach. In former years the 
wizards and witches were hung up by their 
hands tied on their backs till they confessed 
their sin. At present they are ignored and their 
life among them is made unbearable by mockery 
and scoffing. The public opinion in Zuni is as 
yet much against everything new and all that 
contradicts and counteracts their religious 
views, because the older men are still in the lead. 



320 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

From babyhood up their children are taught 
their pagan views and to shun everything that is 
foreign to their rehgion. 

The Zunies, therefore, hve for the present and 
have no sense of the needs for a future hfe. 
They toil every day in the week, and think of 
nothing else than what pertains to their tem- 
poral welfare. The majority of them arc not 
poor materially and live as well as the average 
white people. Their life is not conducted or con- 
trolled by a moral and spiritual influence. They 
will all tell a falsehood or steal if they consider 
themselves reasonably certain of not being de- 
tected. They do not know of a word of honor, 
and are thus not dependable not only for the 
whites, but also among themselves. They do not 
trust one another for a minute. This lack of con- 
fidence is seen in their trade, in their business 
contracts, in their marriage vows, and in any 
other promise they should happen to make. 
They do not seem to feel themselves bound by 
a sense of justice. The reliable among them 
are very few, and they even are not any too 
honest and dependable according to the opinion 
of the Indian traders who deal with them. Their 
character is peculiar and very difficult for us to 
understand. 

They are naturally a friendly people, and very 
hospitable and kind, and not addicted to much 
quarreling and the committing of heinous 
crimes. We therefore never hear of anv mur- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 321 

ders among them as we do amongst the Nav- 
ahoes. The best conception of their character 
we obtain when we deal with them and treat 
them as a people, adults in body but children in 
mind and soul. They are easily stirred up to 
anger, and by a little kind treatment soon 
quieted down to peaceful association. They are 
teachable and subject to material advancement. 
Some of them are quite thrifty and prove that 
there is a future for the Zunies. The coming 
generation, two-thirds of which are or have been 
educated in schools, begins to show a marked 
change of character. Although these young 
people in many ways try to comply with the 
wishes of their parents and the leaders of the 
tribe, they nevertheless hold their own ideas and 
do many things which they are required to do 
for their people with disgust. They do not like 
to be noticed by the white people when they 
must take part in the foolish stunts of the old 
Zunies. For this reason we believe that the pub- 
lic opinion and character of the Zunies is slowly 
changing for the better. Their opposition to 
something foreign is not so great and strong at 
present as it was when our mission work in Zuni 
began. They are more subject to persuasion 
and to listen to advice than in former years, be 
it for no other reason than to get material gain 
and obtain a certain advantage over others. 
Thus the Zunies arc gradually advancing in civi- 
lization, and are accommodating themselves to 
present-day circumstances and influences. 



322 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

This change in the Hfe of the Zunies is caused 
by various influences. The first to be men- 
tioned is their association with the Mexican and 
white settlers around their reservation, with 
whom they trade more or less in stock or farm 
products. They are quite keen to see a good 
thing and ever ready to imitate their neighbors 
to suit their own convenience. If one of them, 
therefore, catches an idea of a white man or 
Mexican and proves his success in applying it, 
others will follow suit and all will be trying to 
do the same thing. They do not like to go or 
work alone. They often, therefore, go and work 
in groups on the field, threshing-floor, in sheep- 
camp, harvesting and hauling wood. They fol- 
low each other like sheep in doing things, and 
enjoy spending their time together in social 
chats and games. They can lose game after 
game without the least sign of being disheart- 
ened or less cheerful than when they entered 
the game. 

Another influence for a change in the Zuni 
life and character has been the Indian Trader, 
who has ever held new things out to them in 
trade for their produce of sheep, cattle, hides, 
wool, grains and other farm products. In this 
way they have learned that there is something 
else in the world than what they themselves pro- 
duce. The old people have the idea that they 
are living at the center of the earth. Two-thirds 
of these people have never yet seen a railroad 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 323 

train, and seem to be satisfied with what they 
have at home in Zuni. That trade in the stores 
has taught them the value of money and how to 
handle it. They buy their articles one at a time 
and pay for its separately, causing much work 
for the clerks in giving them change. The Indian 
trade, it must be admitted, has wonderfully 
changed their mode of living, their manners and 
costumes. The old-time dress has long ago dis- 
appeared and the civilized clothes have taken 
its place. In their religious ceremonies the old 
costume is sometimes used, but the most of their 
apparel even then is made up of what they buy 
in the stores. Their homes have changed from 
old, small, dingy dwellings, built close together 
and upon each other, with the entrance up and 
down a ladder thru the roof, to large, roomy 
houses built somewhat apart, with a large en- 
trance in the side and well-lighted with Ameri- 
can windows. Civilized household goods have 
now found a place in their homes. The sewing- 
machine, stove or range, bedstead, table and 
chairs were about the first to claim a place. From 
the light derived from the fire on the hearth they 
adopted the use of the wax candle, next came the 
coal-oil lamp, and now quite a number of them 
use the modern gasoline lamp. From these and 
other things we can readily observe the influence 
the Indian trader has on the life of the Zunies. 
They have mightily advanced in civilization 
since they came in contact with the white people 



324 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

and have given a clear proof that they are a 
people adaptable to the influences of civiliza- 
tion. Still, they are in dire need of a change of 
heart and life. They need more than this ma- 
terial change. They need the Gospel. They 
need the knowledge of the only true God, of the 
Savior and the way that leads to a spiritual life. 

Yet another influence for their uplift, which 
by the providence of God, is brought to bear 
upon them is the kind endeavor of our Govern- 
ment to educate them by sending instructors to 
teach them how to till their land and care for 
their stock. A government physician and field 
matron are sent to look after their health and 
cleanliness. Their influence is gradually gaining 
in strength, and their presence is growing more 
indispensable to them. When the Doctor is 
away on a vacation, the Zunies soon feel the 
need of him. The Government maintains two 
schools here in Zuni and our Church one. The 
aggregate number of Zuni children attending 
these three schools is a little over three hundred, 
with about fifty or sixty others attending non- 
reservation schools. By this education the young 
Indians are taught how to deal with their neigh- 
bors, how to build good homes and how to live 
a civilized life amongst a civilized people. These 
young people are causing a visible change 
amongst their own people as they begin to prac- 
tice at home what they have been taught at school 
and in their association with the \vhites. Their 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 325 

schooling, although very necessary for their ma- 
terial uplift, is not sufficient to give them the 
much-needed information concerning the things 
of the life to come. Civilization without the 
knowledge of Jesus Christ, the only name under 
heaven given among men for salvation, will 
never save a soul from the wrath of God to come. 
This is evident also here in Zuni. These Indians 
need the knowledge of the only true God and 
Jesus Christ, His Son, whom he has sent to be 
the only Saviour of sinners, but let us mark that 
all the above mentioned influences are paving 
the way and opening the door for us to bring 
them the Gospel. These Indians are therefore 
more accessible today to be reached with the 
message of truth than they were twenty or thirty 
years ago. The time is not so far distant when 
they will all be able to speak and understand 
the American language and read the Bible and 
other books in English, 

From this bird's-eye view of our mission field 
in Zuni we shall be willing to admit that it is a 
place where Satan dwelleth and where he has 
his forces well organized to resist any eventual 
attack of his enemy. But we can also feel as- 
sured that the forces of the Most High God are 
busily at work to overthrow his bulwark, and 
that according to the Word of God, like many 
other strongholds of his, will have to fall before 
the irresistible influence of the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ. The day will come when the Zunies as 




bo 
G 

\x 


O 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 327 

well as other people, will bow before the Lord 
our God and seek pardon and mercy thru the 
blood of the Lamb slain on Calvary's cross. 

OUR MISSION FORCE until now has con- 
sisted of one ordained missionary and three 
helpers; an assistant missionary who makes it 
his business to reach the young men; a matron, 
who takes care of the cleanliness of the Indian 
children of our Mission Day School, and who 
tries to win the confidence of the Zuni young 
women who understand and speak English; and 
a teacher, who gives christian instruction to 
about thirty-five young Zunies. 

Our Christian Mission Day School, held in a 
little adobe building on our Mission premises, is 
always well attended and never needs to beg for 
pupils, as the Zunies like to send their children 
there. The teacher always leads the school in 
the beginning and at the close of each school- 
day in devotional exercices. Here is where the 
httle Indians learn to read and write, figure and 
draw, love and obey, and last but not least, to 
read and reverence the Bible, to sing christian 
hymns and pray to the true God. Every school- 
day the golden text for Sunday school is re- 
peated and the children are pointed to Him, who 
came to this world to seek and save poor lost 
sinners. What a glorious work is done there in 
that little christian school-room. Such a work 
cannot and will not be without glorious and last- 
ing results for time and eternity. The pupils are 



328 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

not all equally bright in their studies, but they 
all do fairly well, and in behavior make a very 
^ood impression on anybody, who perchance 
should step into the school-room. They are all 
fairly efficient in learning to read and write, and 
quite so to draw pictures. Some of them are 
real artists. Our Mission School being a Day 
School, the children go home for their meals, 
and in the evening for lodging. For the sake of 
their health and cleanliness and to make it bear- 
able for the teacher to be with them all day in 
the school-room, they are provided with the 
most necessary clothing and are required to 
wash themselves every day in the school lava- 
tory, and are given a bath and change of under- 
wear once a week. Their book-learning, their 
cleansing, their discipline and their instruction 
in spiritual things all have their importance for 
the making of their future. May the Lord bless 
that work unto their eternal salvation. 

The Matron looks after the cleanliness of these 
children in our Mission School as has already 
ieen mentioned, and she also, with the help of 
the older pupils, washes and mends their clothes. 
She teaches the girls to darn the stockings 
and sew by hand and on the machine. Her work, 
like that of the teacher, is to give instruction, but 
more in an industrial line. She can, however, 
not always be busy with this work, as the chil- 
dren have their time to be in school, and there- 
fore goes out into the village a few afternoons 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 3.9 

each week to call on the English-speaking wo- 
men to bring them the message of salvation. She 
reports having met with all kinds of experiences, 
pleasant and unpleasant. At one place she is 
accepted with the greatest courtesy and friendli- 
ness that anybody could ever expect, and at an- 
other place the people shut and lock the door in 
her face, or if permitted to enter, they do not 
speak a single word to her. All her visits in the 
village, however, are not so discouraging. Many 
a time she finds women ready to listen to her 
talks and readings about the Gospel story. She 
often carries with her very easy reading-matter, 
as for instance a Story of the Bible with some 
pictures and a few tracts, making it her object 
to read to them. Often she has tried to per- 
suade the young Indian women to come to Sun- 
day school or church, but they have always made 
good promises, but which they failed to fulfill. 
May the good Lord, who has every human heart 
in His hand, turn them unto His own worship 
and service. Let us pray for that. Let us look 
for that. Let us work for that and let us keep 
up courage, with that in view. It is the Lord's 
work, and we are His servants with the privilege 
to do it for Him. 

The position of the Assistant Missionay calls 
him to make it his business to befriend the Zuni 
young men and lead them to the Saviour. He 
calls on them in the village, makes himself a 
companion to them and receives them in a room 



330 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

which is always kept open for that purpose in 
the old Zimi mission parsonage, and which is 
called the Zuni Y. M. C. A. Reading-room. Here 
is where the Zuni young men can spend their 
long winter evenings in reading newspapers, 
magazines and christian literature, and in social 
chats and games. The Assistant Missionary sees 
to it that the boys conduct themselves orderly 
and welcomes, them to the place. Here he often 
has the opportunity to read and talk to them 
about things most needful for the life to come, 
and preach the way of life to them. When they 
are away from home, at school or work, he 
keeps in touch with them by correspondence. 
The last couple of years he kept up religious in- 
struction with about thirty of them by mail. We 
try to stay with these young Zunies until they 
will be ready to take a leading place among 
their people in the room of the present old 
leaders. If we, by the grace of God, can hold 
the confidence of the present young people, we 
have in an ordinary course of events their good- 
will assured in the future. May the good Lord 
bless our efforts to that effect. 

At present the position of Assistant Missionary 
here in Zuni is vacant, and that work is not at- 
tended to as it should be. Mr. M. Van der Beek 
has resigned to take up work in Albuquerque 
and Santa Fe, N. M., as Religious Director at two 
Government Indian Boarding Schools, under 
the auspices of the Home Missions Council, a 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 331 

federation of various Protestant Churches, with 
its headquarters in New York. We are glad to 
have one of our own men in that position, as 
he can and will naturally look after the inter- 
ests of our Indian boys and girls at those schools. 
The Missionary is in charge of the whole mis- 
sion field and looks after the work and interests 
of all the other workers. He is the governing 
head. With him the helpers confer about their 
work, and he attends to it that every part of the 
work is sutficiently supplied and arranged, to 
be most effectively done. To him the children 
in our Mission School are sent for discipline, and 
the parents come to him if they desire to have 
a child taken up in School or if they have an 
excuse to ask or complaint to make. 

He corresponds with the supporters of the 
School, and renders a financial statement of the 
Mission in Zuni to the Treasurer of the Mission 
Board and the Classis of Muskegon about every 
other month, and a report each month. The old 
Indians often come to see him at the parsonage 
for advice in secular matters, and that often 
gives him a coveted opportunity to bring them 
the Gospel message. They come to him with 
their troubles and for advice and information 
about things that worry them. These poor ig- 
norant Indians are very superstitious, and sights 
like the Northern lights or the eclipse of sun 
or moon trouble them as omens of something 
horrible to happen. The opinion of the Mis- 



332 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

sionary seems to quiet them. Sometimes they 
come with their family troubles, and the Mis- 
sionary is asked to attempt a settlement or to 
advise in the matter, or they may be worried 
about their children, who are away from home 
and do not return. There are a half dozen Zuni 
young men away, who have not been home for 
several years. Two are at present in Indianap- 
olis, one in Kansas City, another in Los Angeles, 
and others in unknown places, of whom the 
parents or relatives or friends seldom or never 
hear. They therefore come to the Missionary 
for information or to have him write a letter 
for them. From all these things it is evident 
that our Mission in Zuni is gradually gaining 
in influence and confidence. 

Further the Missionary makes it his business 
to talk with old and young wherever he meets 
them on the street, in the stores and upon his 
visits in their homes. He has often called on 
the sick to talk to them and to pray with them, 
kneeling beside their bed on the floor, or where 
a dear relative of the family had passed away 
he has talked to those present to bring them the 
message of truth, directing them to the only 
Comforter and Saviour. The Zunies have their 
own medicine men and women, and with their 
medical practice these also believe in the efficacy 
of prayer. They are therefore, as a rule, in sick- 
ness or death, quite willing to have the mis- 
sionary pray for them. On his visits in their 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 3,^3 

homes he has always been accepted and treated 
with courtesy and friendship. If he wouki try 
to tell them the Gospel story, they often would 
listen silently or say eyah, eyah, tee, hai, and 
further give no response. They always seem to 
be glad to see him come in, and offer him a chair 
or a box to sit down and are willing to listen to 
what he has to say, but from their entire dis- 
position it is evident that they as yet hold to 
their own pagan belief, and go on with their 
idol worship. The longer we associate and deal 
wdth them in trying to bring them the Gospel, 
the more we are convinced that never a Zuni, as 
well as any other sinner, will be drawn from 
the darkness of sin to the marvelous light of 
God's grace in Christ Jesus without the mighty 
operation of the Holy Spirit in his heart. He 
nmst be born again, and it is our mighty Lord 
that must do it. Let us therefore pray as well as 
work for it. We as christians often expect too 
much of our own efforts and forget that we are 
doing the Lord's work and that it is a privilege 
extended by Him to us to do it for Him. By 
prayer we keep in touch with our Master and 
abide in His Word, and have His encouraging 
and strengthening influence. As prayer without 
work availeth nothing, so work without prayer 
is also ineffective and cannot but lead to great 
discouragement. Let us therefore pray and 
work, and work and pray, for a Missionary has 
often patient waiting to practice in the Lord's 



334 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

service, as the Master will set His own time to 
bless the means of grace for the conversion of 
sinners. 

The Zunies seemingly pray wdth all they do, 
but their prayer has no meaning to them, be- 
cause it is for them a mere ceremony and form 
which has been handed down from their ances- 
tors by the parents to the children, and is an end- 
less repetition of a few sentences used by them as 
a mystic charm. They do not know themselves 
what they are praying for, and in many in- 
stances do not even know the meaning of the 
words they are saying. The more curious their 
symbolization is in their religious ceremonies, 
the more it seems to interest their pagan heart 
and mind. For hours at a time these poor people 
can stand in and around the sacred court in the 
center of the village to watch the performances 
of those Zunies who have dressed themselves to 
represent certain gods. Our gospel preaching 
and religious services do not seem interesting 
to them, especially to the older people, because 
of its lack of symbolism. Their undeveloped 
mind as yet can not catch and understand the 
preciousness of the words and thoughts brought 
in the message of the Gospel truth. We there- 
fore aim to follow the command of our Master 
when He says: "Go ye therefore, and teach all 
nations," making disciples of them, and we un- 
derstand that teaching is difi'erent from preach- 
ing, as it requires more time and effort and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 335 

patience to bring the truth home to them for 
whom it is intended. 

We are therefore doing our most etTective 
work in Zuni by giving rehgious instruction to 
the young Zunies in the three schools, with a 
regular attendance of three hundred pupils. 
These children are divided into ten Bible classes 
and receive instruction once, and some twice, 
a week during their school-term. For the be- 
ginners the Missionary uses Borstius' Primer of 
Bible Truths, for the middle or intermediate 
classes, Sacred History for Juniors, and for the 
advanced. Sacred History for Seniors, as hand- 
books. The instruction of the very first begin- 
ners is conducted very much like parents have 
to do at home with their little ones. It is, for 
the Missionary, an endless repetition of the 
same short sentences over and over again until 
they have memorized the Gospel truths. In this 
way they learn to pray a little morning and 
evening prayer, and also the Lord's Prayer, 
and to repeat the Apostle's Creed, the Twenty- 
third Psalm, and the older ones, the Ten Com- 
mandments. The more advanced pupils under- 
stand English and are lectured to according to 
the handbook followed for instruction. In this 
work the Missionary is assisted by his Assistant 
because he is required to take two classes at the 
same hour in order not to interfere with their 
regular school work. Our time for religious in- 
struction is arranged with the superintendent or 



336 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

principal of each school. We have enjoyed the 
privilege of conducting this religious instruction 
for over ten years, and as yet it has not been 
interfered with by any other Church. The re- 
sults of this work, with the blessings from on 
high, cannot fail to come, as these young people 
are in the ordinary course of time most certain 
to grow up to manhood and womanhood, and 
then will take the place of the present leaders, 
and under the Providence of God advance their 
influence according to the ideas they imbibed at 
school about secular and sacred things. Let us 
remember this branch of the work in our daily 
prayers. 

Besides following the Lord's command by 
teaching these Indians in Bible classes, we try to 
influence them by conducting Sunday schools. 
In our Mission Day School we have a gathering 
of about fifty children every Sunday morning. 
This school is divided into three classes, taught 
by the Missionary and his helpers. During the 
week the children memorize the golden text in 
school, and on Sunday morning they repeat it 
after rising from their seats. They master this 
portion of the Word of God wonderfully well, 
and are able quite well to retain it in their mem- 
ory for some time. May the Lord bless this good 
work unto the hearts of these young Zunies so 
that they may soon turn unto Him to seek and 
find life eternal thru faith in the only name given 
under heaven by which we can be saved. The 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 337 

Government employees at the Government In- 
dian Boarding School conduct a Sunday school 
with about one hundred and twenty pupils at- 
tending, and they use our Sunday school 
supplies. 

On Sunday evening our Missionary has the 
privilege to preach at the Black Rock Indian 
Boarding School about four miles east of the 
Zuni village, with the majority of the Govern- 
ment employees attending to help in keeping 
order and to conduct the music. This is as a 
rule a very interesting meeting, and affords the 
Missionary and his helpers, who often accom- 
pany him thither, much pleasure and encour- 
agement. The Gospel is brought there to the 
Zuni young people as simple and comprehensible 
as possible. That those talks on Sunday evening 
make some impression on those youthful In- 
dian minds is evinced by the questions the chil- 
dren ask the teachers during the week about 
what was said on Sunday evening. So we may 
feel quite confident that our preaching is heard 
and understood, if not by all, at any rate by 
some of the young Indians and the Gospel ac- 
cepted for retlection during the week. May the 
Lord also abundantly bless this work for the 
coming of His Kingdom in Zuni. 

Every Sunday afternoon we as missionaries 
gather for religious worship, principally for our 
own spiritual uplift and encouragement. This 
meeting is sometimes attended by white people 



338 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

living around us in Zuni, and also now and 
then by a few Indians. The white people here 
in general have come to dwell amongst the In- 
dians to make money and accumulate wealth by 
trade, and take no interest in religion or mission 
work. When we are gathered for worship the 
Indians often have a dance in the village and 
draw a crowd of their own people around them. 
They always -seem to prefer the Sundays for 
their religious ceremonies, dances, festivities, 
and sports in order to keep their people away 
from the mission. The old leaders do all that is 
within their power to uphold their heathen wor- 
ship in order to counteract the influence of the 
mission. But, believe me, dear mission friend, 
we are persuaded that they are playing a losing 
game. They are losing hold on the coming gen- 
eration and they begin to feel it quite strongly. 
Hence their struggle against the influence of the 
Gospel, and their enthusiasm in their paganistic 
worship. The number of the old leaders in 
their idol worship is, from year to year, getting 
smaller and the people are gradually losing in- 
terest in their heathen ceremonies and feasts. 
The Shalico, for instance, which has been their 
most prominent feast for ages in the past, and 
which has been celebrated with great enthu- 
siasm, is gradually losing in interest. Quite a 
number of the Zunies now refuse to receive the 
Shalicoes in their house or to remodel or to 
build a new house for the celebration of this an- 



INHOGAN AND PUEBLO 339 

nual feast. It means too much of an expense 
for the most of them, and they who have made 
preparation for the Shalico in the past, have lost 
nearly all of the little possessions they did have. 
But the fact of the whole matter is that they are 
losing interest in their old heathen ceremonies, 
that is, enough interest to refuse to spend as 
much of their earnings as is required to uphold 
that old religious feast according to its former 
dignity. Many of the old-time ceremonies and 
religious dances have long ago disappeared be- 
cause, as the Zunies claim, their leaders have 
died and there is nobody left to take their place 
and continue the rite. 

In this sense our work here in Zuni is slowly 
but surely progressing and we are encouraged 
with the thought that we are serving an Omnis- 
cient, Omnipotent and Merciful Lord, Who per- 
mits us to do His work although He does not 
need our help and can easily accomplish His 
purpose without us. We consider it a privilege 
to be permitted to do His work. We are per- 
suaded that He will take care of His own, so that 
our labors here in Zuni as well as elsewhere will 
not be in vain. We are confident also according 
to the testimony of God's own Word, that not 
one of His elected children will be lost. It 
takes the grace of God thru faith in Jesus Christ 
to save a soul from eternal damnation, and it is 
the same grace that saves us all, but we all do 
not require an equal amount of it. Our merci- 



340 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

fill God and Father does not require of the hhnd 
and ignorant heathen what He does of a civi- 
lized and well-enlightened person who is horn 
and lives in the light of God's countenance in a 
christian community, or who has christian par- 
ents and lives and dies under christian influence. 
From what we have seen here in Zuni by our 
visits in their homes, at their sickbeds, and 
deathbeds, in Bible classes and Sunday school, 
we are much encouraged to believe and expect 
that we shall meet some Zunies in heaven who 
will there testify that they are saved by grace 
thru the blood of the Lamb. Eternity will cer- 
tainly reveal in full the fruits of our labors here, 
and we shall have every reason to forever thank 
and parise our Lord and Savior with those 
whom He permitted us to lead to Him. 

Please, reader, remember our Zuni Mission in 
your daily prayers, that the bulwark of Satan 
in Zuni may soon fall, that many of these poor, 
ignorant and blind Indians may be turned from 
the darkness of heathendom to the light of God's 
grace, that our Lord may have a church estab- 
lished here where at present Satan dwells, and 
that His great Name be glorified and we. His 
servants, be encouraged in the work. It is His 
work to convert the soul. It is His power to 
overcome the devil. It is His Spirit to establish 
His Church. Let us therefore pray for it and do 
all we can with the goods, energy, talents and 
wisdom God has given us to help bring it about. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 341 

and we shall then be able to rejoice in the Lord's 
doing forever and ever and glory in His coming 
back on earth to take unto Himself His own in 
glory. After work will come our rest. After our 
battles we shall enjoy the victory and receive the 
crown of glory, which shall never be taken from 
us. Let us therefore continue in our work and 
prayer for the Master Whom we love and serve. 



342 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

XVI. 
NON-RESERVATION SCHOOLS 

WHEN WE SET ourselves to study the Indian 
and his opportunities for education, we 
should not overlook these Non-Reservation 
Schools provided and supported by our Govern- 
ment. In response to our inquiry, the Depart- 
ment of the Interior informed us that there were 
seventeen such schools, giving us their names 
and locations. A report on Indian Missions to 
the Home Missions Council in 1918 gives the 
number as twenty-five, although it only men- 
tions seventeen by name, with an enrollment of 
8,566. There seems to be a little discrepancy in 
this matter, therefore, and we account for it by 
taking it for granted that the Department of the 
Interior mentions only those schools which are 
entirely under the supervision of the Govern- 
ment, and that some of the twenty-five men- 
tioned in the Indian Report of the Home Mis- 
sions Council are either partly or wholly sup- 
ported by private initiative. 

We were also informed that all Indians boys 
and girls who are of one-fourth or more Indian 
blood, and whose parents are not citizens of the 
United States and the State in which they live, 
and who do not have public school facilities 
near their homes, are admitted to these schools, 
but they are required, in most cases, to attend 
the school nearest their home which carries the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 343 

course of study they desire to pursue. The 
schools of this character in which we as a 
Church are and should be more particularly in- 
terested, are those at Santa Fe and Albuquerque, 
N. M., and the Sherman Institute at Riverside, 
Calif. Our particular interest in these, and also 
the one at Phoenix, Arizona, to a certain extent, 
is eti'ected by the fact that it is to these schools 
that our brightest Navaho and Zuni boys and 
girls are sent for higher education and broader 
training. 

Naturally it has often proved a sore disap- 
pointment to our Missionaries at Crown Point, 
Toadlena, Tohatchi, and Zuni, that their pupils, 
just when they were beginning to understand, 
and consequently beginning to take a deeper in- 
terest in the religious instruction given them, 
were removed beyond their reach by being 
transferred to one of the above mentioned 
schools. Ah! to be sure, the Missionary was de- 
lighted to think that his brightest boys and girls 
were going to have an opportunity for further 
development in the lines of education and in- 
dustrial training, but he could not stifle the fear 
that in the process they might lose the knowl- 
edge of the truth and of the "Jesus Way" which 
he, with so much prayer and patience, by the 
grace of God had been privileged to instill in 
their hearts while under his religious care and 
instruction. It has happened again and again 
that some boys and girls had plead to be bap- 



344 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

tized and received into the christian communion, 
but the Missionary hesitated, beheving it to be 
for their good to wait a httle longer in order that 
they might become better founded in the truths 
of the christian rehgion, and then unexpectedly 
by Government order these very pupils were 
transferred to one of these non-reservation 
schools beyond his personal reach and instruc- 
tion. How his heart burned for them, and if the 
way had been open, he undoubtedly would have 
rather followed them than to remain at his 
lonely post and begin over again with the little 
ones brought in from the camps to take the place 
of those transferred. I am sure we can all feel 
the keen disappointment of our Missionaries in 
this matter, and can only hope with them that 
thru a regular and systematic correspondence 
with these absent ones, they may keep them in- 
terested and faithful unitl they return to the 
Reservation. 

Now, however, a change is being brought 
about, as far as religious instruction is con- 
cerned at these non-reservation schools. The In- 
dian Committee of the Home Missions Council, 
of which our Dr. H. Beets is also a member, has 
taken this matter in hand and appointments of 
Rf ligious Directors at these schools are mpde. 
Of course, this is an Interdenominational work, 
for pupils of almost every mission field are 
found in these schools. Practically every de- 
nomination that carries on w^ork among the In- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 345 

dians is represented by some children. Conse- 
quently these Religious Directors must also be 
drawn from the various Churches, Our Mr. M. 
Van der Beek, formerly a boys' worker at Zuni» 
was appointed such a Director at the two 
schools, one at Albuquerque and one at Santa 
Fe, N. M. He gives us a description of the work 
done at these schools in the brief article which 
follows. That his is a responsible and a most 
important position must be realized by all. 

At Riverside, a little town in southern Cali- 
fornia, we find what is known as the Sherman 
Institute, one of the largest and best equipped 
of all non-reservation schools. This Institute 
and the work done there is known far and wide 
among the Western Indian tribes. Its results 
verily enter every region of red life, from the 
salmon canneries of the great Columbia River, 
to the painted desert of Arizona, but, strange to 
say, the white man in general has no knowledge 
of it. This is because this school does not send 
out propaganda literature, its records of 
achievement lie buried in the dry and dusty Gov- 
ernment reports, perused and read by very few; 
but the fruits and blessings of the work itself are 
found in the homes and cradles of the red race; 
consequently this great work is really known to 
those only whom it benefits. 

This school, now more than twenty-five years 
old, with its numerous buildings, magnificent 
gardens, campus, and farm, lies in the heart of 



346 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

orange groves, with snow-capped and sun- 
flooded mountains grouping their strength 
around it. Here, in this splendid gift of the 
white race to the red, the Indian youth of more 
than fifty different tribes are taught tlie higher 
things of life. The boy is taught a trade, to take 
care of land, the maintenance and upkeep of his 
future home. He is also taught the meaning of 
a home, and the co-operation of the sexes, some- 
thing in which Indian life is usually lacking. He 
is therefore taught the man's duty in every 
sphere of life and activity. The girl, to fit her 
for domestic efficiency, is first of all taught to 
sew and mend. Her days really alternate be- 
tween the school-room and the work-room; on 
one day she may be taught how to conjugate a 
verb, and on the following one how to dress and 
care for a baby. In a big sunny room, filled with 
sewing machines, work-tables, etc., the Crow 
maiden of Montana, the Navaho, Hopi, and Zuni 
girls of New Mexico, the little Winnebago lass 
from Nebraska, stand side by side with many 
others of different tribe and lineage, learning 
the complete trade of dress-making, etc. Things 
which their mothers are not able to teach them, 
but which they will most certainly teach their 
children. 

Besides dress-making, the girl is taught cook- 
ing, cleanliness in the preparation and care of 
food material, the need for clean utensils and 
good ventilation in the home, the relation of 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 347 

health to nourishing food, and what effective 
agents these things are in combating disease. 
Housekeeping is another branch of domestic 
science that is taught, with the great dormitories 
for demonstrating purposes. Nothing is elab- 
orate, but everything is thoroughly practical. In 
the laundry building they are trained in this line 
of domestic competency. But now it may seem 
useless to some of us to teach the Indian youth 
these various branches of domestic science, and 
then when they graduate send them back to the 
desert and Reservation, where the facilities of 
Sherman Institute are unknown and undreamed 
of, and where everything must of very necessity 
be done in the most primitive ways. Ah! this 
would be only too true if it were not a fact that 
at this Institute stress and emphasis is laid upon 
this very thing. They learn, thru special instruc- 
tion and in special classes, to do all these various 
things as they will have to do them in their home 
environment. Except in a few^ localities, the 
average Indian home is a blank, its mother is a 
drudge, its children merely exist, and therefore 
the Sherman Institute, by precept and example, 
sends into thousands of these homes, by means 
of its graduates, light and ambition to have 
things different and better. 

Another remarkable and important feature of 
this Institute is the hospital. The girls arc 
trained in extremely practical hygiene and nurs- 
ing and are shown how to prevent diseases 



348 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

among their peoi)le. These gentle-voiced and 
silent-footed Indian nurses give ministrations 
just as tender and soothing as those of their 
v/hite sisters. 

On the ranch, four miles from the Institute 
campus, the girls are shown and taught the care 
of a dairy, the raising of poultry, and other wo- 
man's work about the farm. And all this is 
work, real work, earnest work, for life with an 
Indian woman, is a serious business, devoid of 
much of the sociability and recreation which 
her white sister enjoys. 

It will have been understood from the fore- 
going that this school is to a great extent self- 
supporting. The tailor shop and dressmaking 
department turns out the neat-appearing uni- 
forms with which all are clothed, the hospital 
takes care of the sick, the ranch and gardens 
provide for the kitchen, the laundry and 
print shop command their own departments. 
And to teach the pupils to earn and save money 
for themselves, they are able, by means of the 
outing system, to secure positions during vaca- 
tions and are required to save two-thirds of their 
wages. In this way they are able to earn thou- 
sands of dollars annually. 

This is surely enough about the school itself, 
to give everyone a little idea of the institution, 
although much more might be said, for in one 
word, it is a wonderful place to visit and should 
be known to all oiir people as well as to the In- 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 349 

dians, in order that the two races may come to a 
better mutual appreciation. 

Now as to the religious instruction at the Insti- 
tute. According to our Rev. L. P. Brink in The 
Banner of May 26, 1921, the Roman Catholics are 
simply putting the Protestants to shame. May 
it not continue thus! The Indian Committee of 
the Home Missions Council has appointed a Rev. 
Mr. Vennink as Religious Director. He is of the 
Congregational Church, and according to reports 
a man well-fitted and equipped for the position 
Our Church also gladly helps to support this 
-work, but because of the great number of Nav- 
aho boys and girls at the Institute, the Board 
feels inclined to offer to pay the full salary of the 
worker if he be chosen from ainong our men. 
In the meantime, it seems to us that our church 
at Redlands, Calif., might do a very good piece 
of work by regularly visiting this Institute and 
by getting in touch with the boys and girls that 
come from the several mission stations of our 
Church. If the Missionaries would send a list of 
the boys and girls from their districts that have 
been transferred to Riverside, to the Redland's 
consistory, I am sure these good brethren would 
be glad to arrange for the above mentioned visi- 
tation. We know at least one man in the Red- 
lands church whose heart and soul is in the In- 
dian work and who loves the Navaho boys and 
girls, and I am sure he would be glad to do thio 
work. 



350 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

These non-reservation schools are indeed crii- 
ical places for the future of our Indian work, 
and if anywhere then just here our best men 
should be employed, our best efforts put forth 
and our best talents expended. 



RELIGIOUS WORK IN NON-RESERVATION 
SCHOOLS 



By M. VAN DER BEEK 

THERE IS MUCH to be said regarding the 
work done in non-reservation Government 
schools. They are splendidly equipped and 
draw pupils from every part of the country, 
some schools having as inany as fifty tribes rep- 
resented. The pupils in these schools have 
greater opportunities to "make good" than those 
in the Government schools on the Reservations, 
because here they are removed from the influ- 
ences of their own people and the paganism of 
their tribe. Here they are to some extent at 
least in a christian community, many of the 
people with whom they come in contact being 
christian people. 

At these schools, especially with the new 
course of study prescribed by the Indian Office, 
the pupils are kept busy from early morning 
until late in the evening. At 5 : 30 a. m. they are 
summoned by the call of the bugle to arise. At 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 351 

six they are ready for their early morning phys- 
ical exercices, then, breakfast, school, work, din- 
ner, school again, work, supper, and even after 
that there is still much to be done such as band 
practice, choir practice, school-work, religious 
meetings, etc., so that when the hands of the 
clock point to nine, every boy and girl is more 
than willing to rest for the night. 

According to the rules and regulations of the 
Indian Office, two hours per week are allowed 
for religious instruction. These hours must be 
arranged with the Superintendent of the school. 
I will now give you a few particulars about the 
religious work at the Albuquerque school where 
I am Religious Director to the Protestant pupils. 
Religiously the school is divided into two groups, 
namely, Protestant and Roman Catholic. Each 
of these groups attend their respective churches 
every Sunday morning for Sunday school as well 
as church services. 

The Protestant boys and girls attend the 
Presbyterian church, the school providing the 
necessary conveyances. Here they are taught 
the first principles of the Christian faith, or if 
they have previously enjoyed religious instruc- 
tion at a Mission School, their spiritual life is 
developed and strengthened. That they are 
greatly concerned about all these things is evi- 
denced by their intense interest when attending 
the services in the house of God, and we are 
reminded of the saying from the Book we love : 



352 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

"They were desirous that the word should h^. 
spoken unto them." 

On Wednesday evening, at the school, a 
Y. M. C. A. meeting is held. This is a strictly re- 
ligious service something similar to the Young 
People's Societies in our Reformed churches. 
This meeting is conducted by the Religious Work 
Director, who acts as General Secretary of this 
organization. Attendance at these meetings is 
not compulsory. Being a Government school, 
they assume no responsibility for the spiritual 
development of the Indians boys and girls as 
they come from the Reservations. This is in- 
evitable because of our separation of Church 
and State. However, spiritual and religious in- 
fluences are brought to bear thru the agencies 
of the Church and the Christian Associations. 

Many of the boys that belong to the Y. M. C. A. 
are divided into small groups, called the "Inner 
Circle." These boys have promised to spend 
some time each morning and evening in the 
study of God's Word and in prayer, and they are 
especially sincere about observing the "Morning 
Watch," realizing at least in a measure that "a 
half hour each morning with God alone, saves 
two hours of confession each night." These meet- 
ings are usually conducted with great success, 
principally because the attendance is voluntary, 
and also because the boys themselves take part. 
May God bless this work which is done by the 
faithful boys, and may the result of it be felt by 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 353 

the entire school, and when they return to their 
Reservations may they become moral and relig- 
ious leaders among their own people. 

On Friday evening there is a meeting with the 
girls, called a Y. W. C. A.. All that has been said 
about the Y. M. C. A. can practically be applied 
to the Y. W. C. A., both organizations having 
uniform programs. 

On Saturday afternoon an hour of religious in- 
struction is given to the Protestant boys and girls 
in The Fundamentals of Christianity. All Prot- 
estant pupils attend these meetings. Here they 
are instructed in the old-time religion, they are 
pointed to the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sins of the world. Here they are urged to ac- 
cept Christ, and here they receive an adequate 
understanding of what the "Jesus Way" really 
means. 

On Sunday evening a regular religious serv- 
ice is conducted at the school, and the ministers 
from the different churches in Albuquerque are 
asked to address the audiences. 

The work is very pleasant but also very re- 
sponsible. The students come to us with their 
joys as well as their sorrows, their trials and 
temptations, asking our guidance and our 
prayers. Surely, a great work, to be the instru- 
ments in God's hand of leading boys and girls 
out of nature's darkness into God's wonderful 
light, to break down the "Bulwarks of Satan," 



354 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

and to build up the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

By the help and grace of God we are laying a 
foundation for the future, we sow the seed and 
we have God's own promise that it shall not be 
in vain — "My Word will never (did you get that 
word, never) return unto Me void." May the 
prayers of God's people rise up in great volume 
for these hundreds of Indian young people in 
the non-reservation Government schools. That 
there may be a real spiritual awakening among 
them and a genuine consecration to the cause 
of Christ, and to the redeeming of their own 
people. 

The morning light is breaking, 

The darkness disappears, 
The Indians are awakening, 

To penitential tears, 
Each breeze that sweeps the ocean. 

Brings tidings from afar. 
Of Indians in commotion, 

Prepared for Zion's war. 

See the Indians bending. 

Before the God we love. 
And thousand hearts ascending 

In gratitude above; 
While sinners now confessing. 

The Gospel call obey, 
And seek the Savior's blessing 

A nation in a day. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 355 

XVII. 

A WORD IN CONCLUSION 

TV'T'E ARE very happy to conclude this brief 
^^ sketch on bringing the Gospel in Hogan 
and Pueblo, preaching Jesus to Navaho and 
Zuni, with the statement that all the Protestant 
denominations of our land having work among 
the Indians are co-operating in a very friendly 
and harmonious way under the guidance and 
direction of the Joint Committee on Indian Mis- 
sions of the Home Missions Council and the 
Council of Women for Home Missions. In this 
way the Protestant Churches of America are 
maintaining a united front, and by bringing 
their combined influence to bear, they are able 
to accomplish much, both in a negative and in a 
positive way. In a negative wa> ttiey, by pre- 
senting an unbroken phalanx, are able to pre- 
vent harmful legislation against the Indians, and 
in a positive way the fields have been so allo- 
cated by mutual agreements, that there are prac- 
tically no cases of overlapping and consequent 
waste of man- and money power. Thru this 
genial co-operation of the Boards there has also 
been brought about in the Churches which they 
represent a very marked increased desire to 
reach all the Indians, even the most scattered 
and neglected, by some responsible missionary 



356 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

agency. There are twice as many missionaries 
in the Indian field today as there were twenty- 
five years ago. 

No less than eight Protestant denominations 
are at work among the Navahoes in twenty-two 
stations. The types of work are evangelistic 
(camp work), educational (four Mission 
Schools), medical (six hospitals and dispensa- 
ries). There are fifty-two w^hite workers and 
tw^enty-four native, (some serving part time as 
interpreters). The great need as voiced by one 
missionary is: "man power and equipment 
which is woefully needed." "It is estimated that 
there are seven thousand and five hundred Nav- 
aho children, of school age, without adequate 
school facilities. This is a challenge to Chris- 
tian America," declared Moff ett. The above fig- 
ures, gleaned from the latest Annual Report of 
the Indian Committee of the Home Missions 
Council, may be correct, we have no way to dis- 
prove them, but we are rather skeptical when 
we remember that we as a Church, working in 
four of the twenty-two places, have twenty-one 
of the fifty-two white workers. We are positive, 
however, that of all the Missions to the Navaho, 
there is no station better manned and more thor- 
oughly equipped than our Rehoboth Mission. 

In our estimation there are at least two things 
which the Home Missions Council should put 
forth all its efforts, thru its Indian Committee, to 
obtain. In the first place, a fulfillment of the 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 357 

promise by our Government that for every thirty 
children a teacher would be provided, so that it 
will no longer be true that thousands are grow- 
ing up without any opportunity for schooling. 
In the second place, it should strive to get na- 
tional legislation against the peyote evil. This 
evil is assuming such proportions that it is most 
detrimental to the health and morals of the In- 
dians among whom it is introduced. According 
to Dr. R. W. Roundy, the use of this mescal bean 
with its accompanying hallucinations, has as- 
sumed religious sanction as an Indian religion, 
with an incorporated church in the State of 
Oklahoma. One or two States have already 
passed laws prohibiting the use of this deleter- 
ious drug. Our national Government should 
speedily follow the same course if it is to con- 
tinue as a faithful guardian of the humanitarian 
interests of the original Americans. You who 
read this can help by writing to your Senators 
and Representatives at Washington, D. C., urg- 
ing them not only to give their attention to this 
peyote evil, but also to actively support the ef- 
fort to get national prohibition in this matter. 

The average public speakers, and conse- 
quently the people in general, have and foster 
the idea that the Indian is a vanishing race, rap- 
idly disappearing from our midst. But this is 
not true according to the reports issued by our 
national Census Bureau. These reports show a 
steady increase during the last three or four dec- 



358 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ades. Also the Navahoes and Zimies, among 
whom we as a Church have the privilege to la- 
bor, are continually increasing in numbers. The 
Navaho today is numerically the largest and 
strongest tribe, and most probably also of all In- 
dians the most in need of the Gospel of Jesus. 
The Zunies, according to a census taken by our 
own missionary, have increased from a tribe of 
sixte^en hundred souls to a little more than 
eighteen hundred, during the fifteen years that 
he has been among them. Let no one therefore 
attempt to belittle or to cast reflection upon In- 
dian Missions by designating the Indian, as is 
too often done also among us, a vanishing race. 

It cannot well be gainsaid that one of the 
greatest, if indeed not the greatest hindrances to 
missionary success among the Indians has been 
the notorious and scandalous treatment of these 
aborigines by the whites. There is more truth 
than fiction in the saying: "When the white 
man came to these shores he first fell upon his 
knees and then upon the aborigines." The In- 
dians' own point of view regarding this matter 
may be gleaned from the following incident: 
"In the Capitol at Washington are four histor- 
ical pictures which are striking object lessons of 
the treatment which the Indians have received. 
The first is the landing of the white men, and the 
Indians offering corn to them. The second is 
the signing of the treaty ceding Pennsylvania to 
the white man. The third shows Pocahontas in 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 359 

the act of defending Captain John Smith. The 
fourth represents an engagement between the 
whites and the Indians in which the latter are 
being killed. An Indian, to whom the Capitol 
was being shown, stood thoughtfully before the 
pictures described, and summed up the history 
of his people in a few simple words: 'Indian 
give white man corn. Indian give white man 
land. Indian save white man. White man kill 
Indian'." 

"The relation of the United States Govern- 
ment to the Indian has been divided into three 
periods: the COLONIAL, the NATIONAL, and 
the MODERN. The COLONIAL period was 
characterized by constant wars, bloodshed and 
rapine. The fact cannot be disguised that the 
most bloody Indian wars and massacres of these 
days were inspired by the whites themselves. 
The NATIONAL period of the Government's re- 
lation to the Indian has been called 'a century 
of dishonor.' Peace was impossible because of 
the insatiate greed of the settler for the Indian's 
land. Treaties were made, but utterly disre- 
garded by the whites, and new wars would re- 
sult. The MODERN period, beginning with the 
first term of President Grant, was introduced by 
'The Peace Policy.' President Grant advocated 
the Indian's civilization, the education of their 
children, and a fulfillment of treaty obligations. 
His appeal to christian bodies to assist in their 
amelioration led to the organization of the 'In- 



360 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

dian Rights Association', which from that time 
unto the present day has labored in behalf of the 
Indians. The 'Women's National Indian Asso- 
ciation' is a supplementary body. It establishes 
missions where there are none, and turns them 
over to christian denominations, who will care 
for them. Since 'The Peace Policy' went into ef- 
fect, the Department of the Interior at Wash- 
ington has charge of the government of the In- 
dians. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is 
at the head of the Indian office, which is a bu- 
reau in this Department. About one-half of the 
Indians today are on Reservations — a term ap- 
plied to the land set apart or reserved by the 
Government for the exclusive use of the Indians. 
These Reservations in turn are in charge of Gov- 
ernment Agents, as we have seen in a previous 
Chapter. The Agents are responsible to the 
Commissioner of Indians, who is appointed by 
the President and resides in Washington." The 
present Commissioner of Indian Affairs is 
Charles H. Burke. 

Because of the Indians' feeling toward the 
white man, the Missionary coming to them with 
the Gospel was generally met with a sullen 
hatred. But if we consider all the difficulties 
and the comparatively small number of Indians, 
missions among them have been successful be- 
yond what might have been expected. And if 
we read the signs aright, we believe we have now 
entered upon a new era of Indian Missions. The 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 361 

Indian of the old trail, a very religious being in 
the darkness of ignorance and superstition, 
clothed in war-paint and feathers, armed with 
tomahawk and scalping-knife, and with bow and 
arrow, has made way for the Indian of today 
just entering citizenship thru the highway of 
knowledge. He has been well-termed " a bundle 
or bristling possibilities." Great is the respon- 
sibility of the Church of today, to get him, to 
hold him, to use him in the service of the King 
of kings and the Lord of lords. 

Twenty-six different Boards, representing 
twenty-one different Protestant denominations, 
are facing this responsibility. Partial statistics 
show that there are established Missions in over 
one hundred different tribes and tribal bands. 
There are some six hundred and forty-three In- 
dian churches, four hundred and twenty-nine 
Protestant, and two hundred and eight Roman 
Catholic missionaries. Forty-four thousand seven 
hundred and thirty Protestant and five thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-four Catholic church- 
going Indians, while in addition to these there 
are probably some seventy thousand adherents. 
The actual annual expenses for all Protestant 
work, including the maintenance of twenty-five 
Mission Schools, with an enrollment of approxi- 
mately two thousand children, is less than a 
third of a million dollars. 

The history of Indian Misisons is a story of 
patient, untiring service, and of unwearying self- 



362 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

sacrifice. Tlie recording of this history in its 
details is a work still to be accomplished by 
some lover of the cause. We can only give an 
incident or two, with the hope that these may 
stimulate an interest to search for more. The 
heroes, whose names are best known to us and 
who stand in the forefront are: Roger Wil- 
liams, John Eliot, David and John Brainerd, 
Jonathan Edwards, Count Zinzendorf, Marcus 
Whitman, Bishop Whipple, Bishop Hare, and 
many, many others whom we should mention, 
but do not for want of space. Eliot's monumen- 
tal work is the Bible in the Mohican, the first 
Bible published in America and that only fifty 
years after the publication of the King James 
version. The brief ministry of David Brainerd, 
five years, is a most impressive story of burning 
zeal and devotion, and written as it is by Jona- 
than Edwards, it is a classic of missionary and 
devotional literature. The life of Marcus Whit- 
man contains four outstanding incidents that 
should be known to every one interested in the 
subject of missions among the Indians. We will 
simply mention the incidents and ask you to look 
them up and read them in any authentic biogra- 
phy of this man of God. The search for the white 
man's book of heaven. The double wedding jour- 
ney of the young missionaries, Marcus Whitman 
and H. H. Spalding, and their brides to the dis- 
tant Indian country. Whitman's famous ride to 
Washington. The martyrdom of Whitman and 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 3t)'S 

his wife in the massacre of 1847. Bishops 
Whipple and Hare were instrumental in estab- 
lishing and wonderfully developing the work of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in Minnesota. 

If anyone today speaking of Indian Missions, 
thinks only of the work among the three hun- 
dred and more thousands of Indians in our own 
land, he shows thereby that he has not the vision 
that he should have as a believer in and sup- 
porter of this cause. The millions of Indians of 
Latin America are the real field for Indian mis- 
sionary activity. The greatest stretch of un- 
evangelized territory in the whole world lies in 
the center of South America, including the in- 
terior of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, 
Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay. This territory is 
about two thousand miles long and from five to 
fifteen hundred miles wide, and includes but 
two or three missionaries, and in spite of the 
needs as great as in China or Africa, American 
Missionary Boards only sujiport one hospital in 
the whole continent. What makes the oppor- 
tunity absolutely unique in the world's mission- 
ary history is the common language, the com- 
mon religious inheritances, the common form of 
government and the common problems and 
ideals. More and more we ought to be able to 
see therefore that the cause of Indian Missions 
is not child's play, but in every respect a man's 
job and worthy of the very best talented men 
that our Church is able to produce. The Train- 



364 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

ing School for Native leaders should be a school 
equipped to furnish Missionaries for the extend- 
ing of the Kingdom of God among the millions 
of Indians, not only in North, but also in Cen- 
tral and in South America as well. 



i 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 365 

THEY WHO HAVE BEEN OR WHO ARE 
STILL IN OUR INDIAN MISSION 
SERVICE 



The Regular Missionaries. 

*REV. AND MRS. HERMAN FRYLING, Zuni, New 
Mexico. 
MR. AND MRS. ANDREW VAN DER WAGEN, Zuni, 

New Mexico. 
MR. AND MRS. JAMES E. DE GROOT. 
*REV. AND MRS. L. P. BRINK, Toadlena, New Mexico. 
*REV. AND MRS. J. W. BRINK, Rehoboth, New Mexico. 
REV. AND MRS. D. H. MUYSKENS. 
REV. AND MRS. L. S. HUIZENGA, M. D. 
*REV. AND MRS. JACOB BOLT, Crown Point, New 
Mexico. 
REV. AND MRS. HERMAN HEYNS. 
*MR. AND MRS. MARK BOUMA, Tohatchi, New Mexico. 
*MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM MIEROP, Rehoboth, New 
Mexico. 

Other Workers 

MISS ALICE AARDSMA (Mrs. Hoekstra). 
*MR. AND MRS. HUDSON BAINBRIDGE (Navahoes), 
Toadlena, New Mexico (Interpreter and Assistant). 
*MISS NELLIE BAKER, Rehoboth, New Mexico (House- 
keeper-Cook). 
MISS J. BARTELS. 
MR. EDWARD BECENTI (Navaho). 
*MISS HATTIE BEEKMAN, Zuni, New Mexico, 

(Matron). 
*MR. AND MRS. J. H. BOSSCHER, Rehoboth, New 
Mexico (Manager). 



NOTE: — Those marked with a (*) are still in the 
service. 



366 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

MISS ANNA BOUMA. 

MISS DENA BRINK (Mrs. Van der Wagen). 

MISS WINNIE BOUMA. 

MR. AND MRS. D. BRUMMELER. 
*MISS ALICE BUSH, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Seam- 
stress). 

MISS MARY DAS. 

*MR. AND MRS. HUGH DENITDELE, Toadlena, New 
Mexico (Interpreter and Assistant) [Navahoes]. 

MISS NELLIE DE JONG. 

MISS ANNA DERKS (Mrs. Teusink). 

MISS MARY DE RUITER. 

MISS JOHANNA DIELEMAN (Mrs. Van den Hoek). 

MISS SUSANNA DIELEMAN. 
*MISS SOPHIA FRYLING, Zuni, New Mexico (Teacher). 

MR. AND MRS. NELSON GORMAN (Navahoes). 

MISS COCIA HARTOG (Mrs. Wezeman). 

MR. CLAUDE HAVEN (Navaho). 
*MISS ANNA HAVINGA, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Laun- 
dress). 

DR. AND MRS. G. HEUSINKVELD. 

MISS CHRISTINE HOOD (Mrs. Whipple) [Navaho]. 

MR. AND MRS. P. HOOGEZAND. 

MISS MAUDE KOSTER. 
*MISS JEANETTE LAM, Rehoboth, New Mexico 

(Nurse). 
*MISS NELLIE LAM, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Teacher). 

MISS FANNY LEYS (Mrs. Rett). 

DR. AND MRS. C. J. K. MOORE. 

MR. AND MRS. J. C. MORGAN (Navahoes). 
*DR. AND MRS. J. D. MULDER, Rehoboth, New Mexico. 
(In charge of the Medical Department.) 

MISS JANE NYENHUIS. 

MISS CLARISSA PIERSON (Mrs. Jones) [Navaho]. 



NOTE: — Those marked with a (*) are still in the 
service. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 367 

*MISS CATHERINE ROSBACH, Rehoboth, New Mexico 
(Housekeeper-Cook) . 
MISS BERTHA ROSBACH (Mrs. Guichelaar). 
MR. C. SCHANS. 
*MISS WINNIE SCHOON, Rehoboth, New Mexico 
(Clerk). 
MR. AND MRS. JOHN SCHREUR. 
DR. AND MRS. WILBUR SIPE. 
MR. AND MRS. JOHN SPYKER. 
*MISS RENZINA STOB, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Prin- 
cipal and Teacher). 
MISS MARY STYF. 
*MR. JOHN H. SWETS, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Assis- 
tant to the Manager) . 
MISS CARRIE TEN HOUTEN. 
MRS. A. VAN BREE. 
MR. M. VAN DER BEEK. 
MISS ANNA VAN DER RIET. 
MR. AND MRS. DERK VAN DER WAGEN. 
*MISS FANNIE M. VAN DER WAL, Rehoboth, New 

Mexico (Hospital Assistant). 
*MISS M. VAN DER WEIDE, Rehoboth, New Mexico 

(Boys' Matron). 
*MISS JEANETTE VAN DER WERP, Rehoboth, New 
Mexico (Teacher). 
MISS M. VAN DEURSEM. 
MISS C. VAN KOEVERING. 
MR. AND MRS. G. M. VAN PERNIS. 
*MISS C. VAN ZANTEN, Rehoboth, New Mexico (Girls' 
Matron). 
MISS KATHRYN VENNEMA (Mrs. Sikkema). 
MISS ANNA VEURINK. 
MISS GERTRUDE ZANDSTRA. 
*MR. JOHN SPRICK, Zuni, New Mexico (Assistant). 



NOTE: — Those marked with a (*) are still in the 
service. 



368 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 



SHARPENED ARROW-HEADS 



The total niiiiiber of Indians in the United 
States is usually estimated to be approximately 
336,000. There are more than 150 tribal bands 
and clans, all speaking different languages and 
dialects and are scattered on 147 Reservations 
and in different communities. 



Rehoboth's PROSPECTS ARE, subject to 
Divine blessing, VERY GOOD. He who blessed 
in the past, in more ways than one, will do so in 
the future. Psalm 115:21. Since 1903 several 
of our pupils have confessed Christ and received 
baptism. We have reason to believe that as 
time goes on the Gospel will show itself to be 
the power of God unto salvation for more of 
them as well as adults in camps.- — Rev. J. W. 
Brink. 



The number of Indians within the boun- 
daries of the United States since the time of 
Columbus was never so great as it is today. — 
Major C. F. Larrabee. 



The Navaho is today the largest tribe, and 
they are anxious to have their children educated. 
The Government promised a teacher for every 
thirty children, but the promise has not been 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 359 

kept. At the present time there are more than 
7,000 Navaho children who have no opportunity 
whatever for schooling. 



"Redeeming the red man is a more hopeful 
and also a more interesting process than rifling 
him." 



"We earnestly express as our conviction, at- 
tested by the knowledge of our respective tribes 
and our several personal experiences, that the 
one fundamental need of the Red Men is Jesus 
Christ; that the Indian race will achieve greater 
glory or will vanish from the earth according 
as it receives or rejects Him; that in Him only is 
to be found that power that saves from the vices, 
greed, gross materialism, and selfishness of 
inodern civilization, and that leads to the glory 
of a blameless Indian womanhood and man- 
hood. 

"In view of these indisputable facts, we bid 
every Christian student to stand with us and to 
take heart as never before. We call upon all 
christian agencies working in Indian-student 
centers, to strengthen their hands in the en- 
deavor to lead students to a personal knowl- 
edge of Jesus Christ, and to foster all influences 
working for a settlement of Indian problems 
along the lines of Christian statesmanship," — In- 
dian Delegates to a Mohonk Conference. 



370 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

The greatest factors in the uplifting of the 
Indians are the men and women who are teach- 
ing the Indians to become Christian citizens. — 
Theodore Roosevelt. 



There are still parts of the Navaho Reserva- 
tion where Christ Jesus has not been preached! 
There are hundreds, yes, perhaps thousands, 
who are on this Reservation and have never 
heard the name JESUS mentioned! Pause a 
moment and think on that ! — William Mierop. 



To work in this (Tohatchi) section, as well 
as on other parts of the field, will mean much 
traveling, but it is not at all hopeless. Work 
must necessarily go slow. The Navaho is slow. 
The Navaho can be reached and the Gospel 
brought to him, and this is our duty. To reach 
all is a possibility. Trained native helpers, as 
interpreters, readers, and evangelists, will 
greatly aid the rapid spread of the Gospel among 
them. Caring for their sick will, in time, we ex- 
pect, become valuable — Dr. Lee S. Huizenga. 



In prayer lies our great power. It is not so 
much our talking to men, but rather our talking 
to God about men, and for men, that will turn 
men to God. Let us not think too highly of our 
power to persuade men. For then we shall ut- 
terly fail. Only the voice of God can reach men 
who are dead in sin. — Rev. Jacob Bolt. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 371 

Prayer and pains, thru faith in Jesus Christ, 
will do anything — John Eliot. 



The future of the Navahoes is promising. We 
firmly believe that there will be many, many 
christian homes before another decade. God 
uses means and we must apply them to bring 
about this radical change in Navaho life. — 
Cocia Hartog. 



The missionary goes to do a spiritual work; 
he should know by personal experience what it 
is to be under the sway of the Holy Spirit, and 
not attempt to accomplish the work of God in 
the energy of the flesh — Rev. Henry Beets, LL.D. 



In Zuni, with the blessing of God, we can ex- 
pect an organized christian congregation, a 
christian nation, because the people live to- 
gether, they are fully able to support themselves, 
and they are a willing people in their own pagan 
worship, and when converted, we may reason- 
ably expect them to be the same in following the 
truth. Let us not forget to earnestly pray for 
them !^ — Rev. Herman Fryling. 



The biggest problem, the greatest asset for 
the Christian Church if she can and will get 
hold of them, are the thousands of returned stu- 
dents in the Indian country. 



372 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

Toadlena is an Indian word meaning "Out- 
flowing Water." Our aim and prayer is that the 
Missionary and his helpers may be such as those 
of whom the Savior said, "From the midst of 
them shall flow rivers of living water." That we 
may be the channels thru which the waters of 
salvation may flow to those who are dying for 
lack of it. And may the Lord speed the day 
when the Navahoes in turn may become the 
bearers of the Gospel Message to others. — Rev. 
L. P. Brink. 



When the Indians were without Christ, it 
needed a standing army to control them. This 
has practically passed away. In this way the 
Missionaries are saving our Government millions 
of dollars.— Dr. T. C. Moffett. 



The American Bible Society has published 
the Scriptures in whole or in part in twelve In- 
dian languages, including large portions of both 
Old and New Testament in the Navaho. 



Oh, that I could dedicate my all to God. This 
is all the return I can make Him. — David 
Brainerd. 



Forty-six thousand Indians without the Gos- 
pel! Calls for repetition of the Great Commis- 
sion. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 373 

The QUESTION OF THE HOUR IN ALL 
OUR CHURCHES has been well put:— 

"To pledge or not to pledge — that is the question : 
Whether 'tis nobler in a man to take 
The Gospel free, leave other men to foot the bill, 
Or sign a pledge and pay toward the church expenses." 



The fact that — 

"Men are righteous, men are bad, 
According to the meal they've had," 

may apply to spiritual as well as to physical 
feeding. It might be a good principle to bear in 
mind when making our pledge for missionary 
work for a new year. Not a (weakly) but a 
(weekly) offering should be made for the ful- 
filling of the Great Commission. 



I will go down, but remember that you must 
hold the ropes. — William Carey. 



Immigrants afflicted with trachoma and tu- 
berculosis are promptly deported. These are 
among the most prevalent diseases of the Indian 
tribes. Consequently christian medical service 
is strongly demanded. 



EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD ; AT- 
TEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD. 



374 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 



GENERAL 



BEADLE, J. H. — "The Undeveloped West, or Five Years 

in the Territories." Cincinnati, 1873. 
BEADLE, J. H. — "Western Wilds and the Men Who Re- 
deem Them." Cincinnati. 1878. 
(Two of the most interesting books of travel in print.) 
CHAPIN, FREDERICK H.— "The Land of the Cliff 

Dwellers." 1892. 
COZZENS, S. W.— "The Marvelous Country, or Three 

Years in Arizona and New Mexico." Boston. 1874. 
CURTIS, EDWARD S.— "The North American Indian." 

20 vols. Vol. 1, "Indians of Arizona and New 

Mexico." 
GUSHING, F. H.— "Zuni Folk Tales." G. P. Putnam's 

Sons. 1901. 
DIXON; JOSEPH— "The Vanishing Race." Doubleday, 

Page & Co. 1913. 
DORSY, GEORGE A.— "Indians of the Southwest." 1903. 
FRANCISCAN FATHERS— St. Michaelis, Arizona. 

"Vocabulary of the Navaho Language." 2 vols. 

"An Ethnological Dictionary of the Navaho Lan- 
guage." 

"The Sawli'ranciscan Missions of the Southwest." 
HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIANS. Bureau of 

American Ethnology. Bulletin No. 30. 2 vols. 1912, 
HUMPHREY, SETH K. — "The Indian Dispossessed." 

Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1905. 
JACKSON, HELEN H. — "A Century of Dishonor." 

Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 1885. 
JOHNSTON, C. H. L. — "Famous Indian Chiefs." L. C. 

Page & Co., Boston. 1909. 
STARR, FREDERICK — "American Indians." D. C. 

Heath & Co., New York. 1898. 
WINSHIP, G. P. — "The Journey of Coronado, the First 

Explorer of the West." 1904. 



IN HOGAN AND PUEBLO 375 

GREGG, JOSIAH — "Commerce of the Prairies." 2 vols. 
1844. 

HIGGINS, C. A.— "To California and Back." 
HIGGINS, C. A.— "To California Over the Santa Fe 
Trail." 

JAMES, GEORGE WHARTON— "Indians of the Painted 
Desert Region." 1903, 

TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BU- 
REAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 1901-1902. 

ELLIS, GEORGE E.— "The Red Man and the White." 

MISSIONS 

EDGERTON R. YOUNG— "On the Indian Trail and 

Other Stories." 
F. W. CALKINS — "My Host the Enemy and Other Tales 

of the Northwest." 
HON. FRANCIS LEUPP— "In Red Man's Land." 
REV. GILBERT L. WILSON — "Good Bird, the Indian." 
ROBERT LAIRD STEWART— "The Life of Sheldon 

Jackson." 
JOHN W. ARCTANDER— "The Apostle of Alaska." 
ELIZABETH M. PAGE — "In Camp and Tepee." 
THOMAS C. MOFFETT — "The American Indian on the 

New Trail." 
J. M. SHERWOOD — "Memoirs of Brainerd." (The stand- 
ard work on Brainerd.) 
WILLIAM A. MOWRY — "Marcus Whitman." (The most 

complete and authentic biography.) 
JOHN T. FARIS — "Winning the Oregon Country." 1911. 
M. G. HUMPHREYS — "Missionary Explorers Among the 

American Indians." 1913. 
HORATIO 0. LADD — "Chunda: A Story of the Nav- 

ajos." 1906. 
BELLE M. BRAIN — "The Redemption of the Red Man." 

1904. 
BARRETT — "Geronimo, The Story of My Life." 



376 BRINGING THE GOSPEL 

PAMPHLETS 

THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS— 
"The American Indian." 

BOARD OF HEATHEN MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN RE- 
FORMED CHURCH— "Navaho and Zuni." 1914. 

BOARD OF HEATHEN MISSIONS, CHRISTIAN RE- 
FORMED CHURCH— "Zuni and Navaho." 1918. 

COCIA HARTOG— "Indian Mission Sketches." 

THOMAS C. MOFFETT— "Presbyterian Work for the In- 
dian Race in the United States." 

REV. H. WALKOTTEN— "De Navaho Indianen." (Hol- 
land Language.) 

REV. H. WALKOTTEN — "De Zuni Indianen." (Holland 
Language.) 

HOME MISSIONS COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORTS— 
"Reports on Indian Missions." 

DR. L. S. HUIZENGA — "De Navaho Indiaan." 

MAGAZINES AND PAPERS 

THE INSTRUCTOR FOR THE SUNDAY SCHOOI^- 
Mission Department. 

"DE HEIDENWERELD" — Missionary Monthly. 

THE MISSION FIELD — Monthly. Boards of the Re- 
formed Church in America. 



;\> 













•^"^ *>^^^, 














•Jt^ 


o 


V 




■'-^^ ■•■■ 




-», % 








.0 ^-^ 




\^ t ' * '^ 




,0 . • ■♦ o 




C ^^^-'TT^y " o 


■•^A 


0^ 


/ 


°o . , 


Q_ '^' 












\3 






.^^^ .^ 



<". 



'b V' 









v''^>- 



"t-o^ 



> 



'^^. .v^- 



/'.•J 



•'«&■' iv ' ^ 


y '<?« °.^Q 


J>^' 




■C- ^' ♦ 




o V 






^°'''^. 






'">. 










f ;:i^>,'. '^-n 









o 



^•-/-J 



> 









V , * 









•^#^ 



^J 



k^'t ^-^* 



*• n^'-^nJ 



•^^ -^ ^^ 



[ 












:, '^r-^i^j/^: 



^ 









A 



-^v 






^-^...>.,^ ^^"^ ''^^ °A 



.^' 






■^^9^' 
^V-^- 



y^.. 









^^ r^ .*s:^^A% " ■:>. .<^- 



A 






V^ ..!.••>. 






'^ 



■i^- 




.-J.- > < 



■^0 -.^-WV-v 



^ V, 



.HO. 



i.Q-r. 



0* 



ST. AUGUSTINE 
^^#32084 









